Weathering the Storm
by wolfdream
Summary: The storm' and all it brings leads to trials for all in Atlantis. Warning: All aspects of rape dealt with in detail. Flames read, if valid will be listened to, but for the most part they will just be used to keep me warm at night
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 1**

It was one of the few days that the emergency klaxon or a knock on the door did not wake up the leader of Atlantis since coming to the Pegasus galaxy. That should have been her first clue that something was going to go amiss; Dr. Weir determined what that something was when Major Sheppard called in from Jumper 1 to inform her that there was a storm coming to Atlantis. For John to sound as non-cynical as he did in that conversation was the clue that this storm was going to be bad.

While John was getting aerial views of the storm, Dr. Weir called in two scientists that would be able to help Atlantis prepare for the storm. Dr. Zelenka and Dr. McKay were prompt in coming to the briefing room when summoned; however, they were not as quick with ideas on how to save Atlantis. Like all brilliant scientists when a new situation arises, Drs. McKay and Zelenka started talking in technical terms about what was going on. A stern, "focus," from Dr. Weir brought them back to the meeting; however, the only plan that they came up with was that they would have a plan before the hurricane hit. _Wonderful,_ Dr. Weir thought while she was walking back to her office. In the meantime, she decided to start plans to evacuate the Athosian settlement, and asked Major Sheppard to start looking into planets that would be willing to put up with the Athosians and the people from Atlantis. _I hope the planet is friendly enough just incase we can't get back._

Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford came back with good news. The Manarian people decided that they would give hospitality to the entire population of Atlantis until the threat from the storm wasover. Elizabeth breathed in a sigh of relief as one hurdle was dealt with. She watched as the Athosian people and some of the personnel from Atlantis started to go through the gate and was wondering what would happen to them if Atlantis was destroyed so that they could not return through the stargate. _How will Earth know where to find us, and how with the Athosian people deal with losing their home for the second time in months? _Elizabeth brought her thoughts back to the present situation and told herself not to borrow trouble before it happened.

The plan to save Atlantis did come before the storm hit, as Dr. McKay said. However the plan was not a foolproof plan. Therefore Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay, and Major Sheppard were to stay behind to try and put the plan in action; a few military personnel also stayed behind to keep some of the major systems online and to guard the gate. The plan to save the city involved separating the four main grounding stations on Atlantis. This would cause the lightning to go through the unshielded parts of Atlantis and feed into the power supply for the shield. Hopefully this would save the majestic city.

The call came in that changed the day from bad to worse while Major Sheppard was going to separate the last grounding station. One of the guards radioed in to Dr. Weir that there was an attack on Manara and that there were injuries involved. _Great, can this day get any worse, _Dr. Weir thought as she and Rodney hurried to the gateroom. When the two of them arrived, Dr. Weir was reminded that no one should ask that loaded question.

"What the hell is going on?" Dr. Weir asked as she barreled into the gateroom. She noticed the guns pointed toward herself and Dr. McKay. She looked around for the guards that she left stationed here, and noticed that there were two bodies laying on the floor near the gate with a pool of blood underneath them both. Elizabeth could tell that they were both dead as she could not see their chests rise and fall in the tale-tell sign of life. If looks could kill, the man coming down the steps toward Rodney and her would have been long dead. This was not the first death that the leader of Atlantis has dealt with since coming to the Pegasus Galaxy; however, it hit the closest to home, literally. Dr. Weir was pissed off that these people had come into the one place that her people had felt safe in, and started to call home, and defiled all thoughts of safety even within these city walls. Her eyes blazed with these feelings, and Dr. Weir could tell that the man coming down the stairs enjoyed this show of emotion. Therefore Elizabeth put on a stoic mask as the man stood in front of her.

"Doctor Elizabeth Weir," Kolya stated as he noticed her facial expressions close off from the outside world. _I will see those emotions again_, he thought longingly as the person in front of him acknowledged that yes, she was Dr. Weir, and therefore the leader of Atlantis. Kolya learned that Dr. McKay was the other person standing in front of him when Sora came over and told her leader this. Commander Kolya did not like the rebellion that he was receiving from the people in front of him. Dr. Weir was not showing him her emotions, and Dr. McKay would not respond to his direct question of who he was. _They will pay for their insubordination_.

"You seem to know a lot about us. Who are you?" Dr. Weir asked once it was determined that the man in front of her was the leader of this incursion team. Rodney mentioned that they were the Genii.

"There's only one thing you need to know, Dr. Weir," Kolya stated. "As of right now, we are in control of Atlantis." He looked around the gateroom at the marvelous city, and walked out onto the balcony to look at the approaching storm that was the reason for the security of Atlantis being lax. He took a few deep breaths and walked back into the city and towards the leader of Atlantis. He noticed that his men were carrying the dead guardsmen out of the gateroom. Kolya looked over to Elizabeth expecting to see the sorrow of these deaths on her shoulders; however, her eyes showed him nothing other than the fact that she was watching as the men were being carted away. _She is colder than I thought. She will pay. All good commanders should go before their men, and fight for them, and she sits there worried more about herself than her men. _

Kolya came and walked around the two doctors. "Who are you?" Dr. Weir asked, trying to size up the situation. _I'm a trained diplomat. I can deal with this. _Elizabeth wondered about what was going on with her people on Manara, and hoped that they were okay. She knew that she had to keep the situation on Atlantis in check so that the refugees could come back. She hoped that they would all make it through this storm intact.

Kolya responded to the question he was asked, "Commander Acastus Kolya of the Geneii. This Atlantis is extrodinary, more than I ever imagined." _And so is it's leader_ he thought to himself.

"What have you done with the rest of my people?" she asked. While her voice hinted that this topic was of great importance to her, her face did not.

_I'll defininetly need to work on her, _Kolya thought. He answered her question in the hopes to get some visual response. "I'm quite sure they have no idea we're even here."

"Then they're safe?" she asked letting Kolya see a glimpse of hope in her eyes. When he replied that yes, they were safe, he was rewarded even more with a brief smile before she closed her emotions off from him yet again.

Later, Dr. Weir was escorted into her office, and she noticed Kolya sitting at her desk looking over various data that her team had collected since coming to the Pegasus galaxy. She stood in front of her desk, s_o this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the table _she thought, before she, directed her comments to the Commander of the Genii. She hoped he would listen to the reasons why the city should not be taken from her and the others from Earth. "Thank you for seeing me. This city was designed to be inhabited by the Ancients and their direct descendants and although, yes, while there is limited functionality for those who do not possess the Ancient gene, it is only those who have it who can revive the city to its true potential."

"And do you have this gene?" Kolya asked. He hoped that she would say yes; this would give him an excuse for why he should keep her alive. However, he knew with the train of thought that was swirling in his head about the person in front of him, that she would prefer death. He smirked to himself.

Elizabeth responded to his question, "No, but many of my team do. The Wraith are slowly waking. Soon this entire galaxy will be embroiled in a war the likes of which our generations have never seen."

"A war that you expedited," Kolya spit out harshly.

Dr. Weir wanted to let the Commander know that he and his people could still work together with those in Atlantis to defeat the Wraith, and that this situation that the Genii started when they seized Atlantis could be put in the past. "Disagreements like ours will no longer matter. The only thing of any consequence will be how prepared we are and what defense we are able to mount. Now, this city holds many secrets which will help us win that war, but only if my team are here to discover them. So, fine, take whatever you need for your people, but if you don't leave us this city you're only hurting yourselves in the long run."

Kolya could not believe that this woman who stood in front of him had the audacity to guilt trip him into leaving the people from Earth the city in order to 'protect' his own people. "You believe your people, who are not even of this galaxy, are closer to the Ancients than we are? Your arrogance is astounding. We will take this city, we will mount a defense, and we will win, with or without your help, Doctor Weir." He threatened. Kolya stood from the chair and walked around the desk to stand in front of Dr. Weir.

Kolya decided that it was time to steer the conversation in another direction. "You seem to care more about your precious city, then about the lives of your men." He knew he was on a good line of questioning when Dr. Weirs eyes quickly shifted as she thought over what she had said and how her comments might have been perceived. That brief glimpse of emotion excites the Commander, t_his could be fun,_ he thought before he went on with his thoughts. "I can tell you don't care about your men. You looked on as two of your dead officers were carried away and you didn't even grieve for them. You showed no remorse for the shortening of their lives'. What type of leader does that make you?"

Elizabeth knew that he was trying to push her buttons, and she was very close to letting her anger bubble over and exploding at the man in front of her; however, she knew this would only give him the satisfaction of getting her upset. Consequentially, she changed her gaze from the wall behind Kolya's head to glance straight in his eyes. While she hoped that this would throw off his questioning, she was sadly mistaken. She noticed his eyes change focus from looking at her, to looking off in the distance, and it did not take her long to figure out that he was looking at something that she would not be able to see even if she turned around.

His voice even seemed more distant than his thoughts when he spoke. "You mentioned earlier that we could take what we need. Does that offer still stand."

Doctor Weir was shocked by the quick change of pace that this conversation was leading to. Therefore when her brain finally comprehended the shift she stuttered out a shaky, "Yes. I'll go get the supplies you requested." She knew that it would be hard to adjust without the medical supplies, and the explosives, but they were easier to deal without than the lives of her people. She turned away from him, assuming that the conversation, as odd as it was, was over.

When Kolya heard the answer spill from Elizabeth's mouth he seemed to awaken from his inner thoughts. He noticed her turn and start to head toward her office door. Before she could get close enough to the door for it to open, Kolya was standing behind her with his right arm wrapped around her waist, and his left hand holding her forehead against his shoulder. Slowly Kolya drew his left index finger down Elizabeth's check while he replied, "I need more than what I originally came here for." He felt her pulse increase and her shudder of fear. He knew that she probably still had on the stoic mask. But he was exhilarated about getting this emotional response. Plus he knew that he would soon see many emotions crossing her face.

From the way Koyla had her in his grip, it was fairly evident to her, what he was talking about. She quickly looked around her office trying to find the nearest object that could be used as a weapon. _When this is over, I need to decorate more_. She thought as she looked around her utilitarian office. She knew that she wouldn't go down without a fight though regardless of her lack of 'weapons.' She remembered hearing in a lecture on campus that you use what you have, and she felt lucky to be blessed with hands and knees with which to try to fight back.

When Dr. Weir shuddered at his touch, Kolya was shocked still with the desire to see pain and fear from Elizabeth. This gave her the chance she needed in which to twist out of his arms and to attempt to fight him off. As she twisted out of his arms to face Kolya, she stomped on his foot. Without taking the time to think about the fact that she was harming another individual, she had kneed him in the groin. He grimaced with the blows she threw at him, but was quickly able to push his discomfort in the background of his thought, and to fully go after Elizabeth. He pulled out his knife and lunged at her. Elizabeth tried to scratch his eyes when he came after her, and failed to notice the knife that Kolya branded. She felt the prickling, burning sensation in her right shoulder before she smelled the copper twang to the air, or saw the red blood flowing from the wound. Her brain seemed to freeze as she saw the knife embedded in her shoulder. This pause was all Kolya needed in order to pin her to the ground with his hand about her throat. "How will your people feel about following a leader that cannot protect herself or her men." He whispered into her ear, and then he leaned forward a little more to nip at her earlobe. He sat up, and straddled her hips. He seemed to finally notice the knife still sticking out of her shoulder, and the steady stream of blood that the doctor was loosing. "Oh we can't have that, can we? If you loss too much more blood, you might black out and miss all the fun."

He bent back over the prone doctor and harshly planted his lips on hers. While he was kissing her, his left hand grasped the hilt of the blade, and he yanked it from it's hold. With a sickening slurping sound, the blade was removed; however this sound was muffled by the strangled whimper that was heard from Dr. Weir. When Elizabeth opened her mouth to try and cry out from the pain, Kolya took the chance to insert his tongue in her mouth. When he was finished with the kiss, he sat up and watched as Dr. Weir struggled to catch her breath, and to deal with the excruciating pain from her shoulder. _Suck it up_, she thought to herself mentally using a term she had heard one of the military using, _if Rodney can deal with a knife wound, anybody can._ She thought about the resident hypochondriac, and was amazed with how well he was fairing with all that was happening in the city.

Her thoughts where brought back to the situation at hand when she noticed the knife move toward her again. She tried to pull back from the blade, but as she was lying on the floor, there was nowhere to back away too. She closed her eyes in preparation for the worst. However, Elizabeth was shocked when the inevitable came without any pain. She heard ripping, felt the air hit her skin, and she knew what was coming.

Kolya cut down the front of the jacket and shirt that the doctor was wearing. Once it was cut completely down the front, he started to remove it from her. Once it was off, he started to tear her shirt into strips. Dr. Weir looked up at this new sound, and wondered what was going on. When Kolya noticed that she was watching him he replied, "I don't want you to miss out on any of the fun." _Or me, _he thought as he wanted as much time to watch the emotions play on her face. He knew that he would not get as much out of the situation if she would blackout and her face went slack. As a warrior, he was also skilled in first aid. Kolya helped Elizabeth sit up, and then he quickly and efficiently bound the wound with the strips of her old shirt.

Elizabeth sat still while he bound her wound, afraid that anything might set him off again. She was confused with his constant change in attitude, and was quickly trying to think of ways to use his shifting thoughts to her advantage. "We should get back to see how the plan is going to save the city, or else we will all loss out."

Kolya grinned as he realized what Elizabeth was trying to do. He clucked his tongue at her. "Nice try, but I haven't gotten everything that I came for yet." As he said this, his hands trailed down to the fasteners on her pants. He pushed her back down to the ground, and for the next 10 minutes, he was content with the emotions that he saw play out on the face in front of him.


	2. part2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 2**

Sora came to the office door to inform Kolya that Major Sheppard was at the final grounding station. She saw as Kolya stood over Elizabeth and buttoned up his pants. She heard as he spat to the female below him "Females should not be allowed to lead. They are weak." Sora did not understand how Kolya could think that way. They had both seen many excellent fighters and warriors from either sex. _Does he think this way about _me she wondered?

Sora knew what had transpired in this room. It was obvious to see by the lack of dress from Dr. Weir. But regardless of what had happened to Elizabeth, Sora could see the fight still behind her eyes. _I don't see how he can think she is weak as she still fights for herself and her people. _Sora had a sickening revelation that many times a good leader has to make sacrifices for her people. She wondered what she might do in the same situation. _I do not fell sorry for them, they awoke the Wraith and killed my father, _she thought bitterly, bring her thoughts back to the reason she was here in the first place.

A slight knock at the door drew Kolya's attention away from the glaringly figure of Dr. Weir. When Kolya was looking at Sora, she stated, "he's at the grounding station."

Kolya started to walk out the door, but when he reached Sora's side he seemed to remember about Dr. Weir. "Take her to her room to change, and then bring her back here. I might need something more from her later."

Sora heard the slip about how HE might need Dr. Weir later, and not that the team might need her. Was he losing his touch on the mission of this incursion? She wondered. "Yes sir" was her reply, as she knew better than to voice her thoughts out loud.

Sora watched as Kolya walked out of the room, and then turned to face Dr. Weir. Her belief that Elizabeth was one of the strongest women she knew was renewed when she saw that Elizabeth was already standing up with her pants fastened around her waist and her jacket in her hands. Sora noticed the white knuckled grasp Elizabeth had on the edge of her desk in order to prevent herself from falling back to the floor. Sora had many times been given the task of picking up those women who had been tortured in a similar fashion to Elizabeth; many times these women would be in hysterics and would have to be dragged away from the scene of the crime as they could not stand on their own. Sora watched as Dr. Weir struggled to get her right arm through her cut jacket. It was then that she noticed the red makeshift bandage around Dr. Weir's shoulder, and the darker red stain that was blossoming from the center of the cloth like a beautiful yet deadly flower.

Sora walked over to Elizabeth and held her hand out toward the jacket, "May I." She knew better than to try and touch the person in front of her, as she was not in the mood to be attacked, nor did she want to unnecessarily frighten Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked toward Sora and saw the sincerity behind her words, therefore she handed the torn jacket over to the person in front of her. Sora took the jacket and helped Elizabeth get her right arm in and then the left arm in the jacket; she then started leading them both out the door.

When Elizabeth got to the door, she clutched the two sides of the torn jacket closed and glanced around for Rodney. She saw him on the other side of the control room, and as his back was turned, she quickly darted through the nearest door to a hallway in order to prevent him from seeing what had happened to her.

On the way toward the door that Elizabeth had taken, Sora heard Kolya tell her comrades over the communication unit, "Use lethal force only if necessary."

She stopped in her track and turned towards her leader, "You told him he would be unharmed." She was having trouble grasping this man in front of her. He was going against his word, and harmed other human beings when it was not necessary. She thought back onto the deaths of the two men when the team first arrived in Atlantis, and to the actions her commander took against Dr. Weir; her thought whirled around about the situation at hand. As she was walking toward the door that Elizabeth had taken, she heard Kolya reply, "Let's hope he doesn't put up much of a fight."

* * *

Elizabeth led the way down the corridors of Atlantis to her room. She thought for a brief moment about trying to run away, however she knew this would led to more trouble for Rodney, and she could not put another member of her team in danger like that. As she had the opportunity once again to talk one-on-one with Sora, Dr. Weir tried to explain Teyla's actions and that she was not responsible for the death of Sora's father. "I have known Teyla for awhile now. She is not the kind of person that would leave someone to die if it could be helped. She is a commendable officer who..."

Dr. Weir was cut off by a menacing "ENOUGH," from Sora. Elizabeth knew she had gone to far, however she felt she owed it to Teyla to try. The rest of the walk to her quarters was done in utter silence. The silence in the hall was eerie, as none of the usual hustle and bustle from the daily activities of those in Atlantis could be heard.

Elizabeth walked into her quarters and felt the presence of Sora behind her before she heard her door close. She turned to Sora and asked while gesturing toward the bathroom door, "May I have a few moments to clean up."

"You have five minutes," Sora said briskly, knowing that a longer delay would only cause problems with her commanding officer. She watched as Elizabeth went to her dresser and gathered up another full uniform before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door. When Sora heard the water turn on, she sat down on the edge of Dr. Weir's bed and contemplated all that had happened today. She was confused by the actions of her CO, and those of the people in Atlantis. Her own people were acting more like terrorists than she was seeing from the Atlantians. Sora thought of the leader in the next room, and how she was trying to protect her people even in the face of her own danger. _She even tried to protect Teyla by speaking up for her._ The thought of Teyla brought forward the thoughts of her father, and the anger she felt toward these people returned. _I will have my revenge. _She thought as the actions of those around her fell into the deep recessives of her mind.

* * *

Elizabeth clutched the new uniform to her chest as she walked into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, and turned the knob to lock the outside world behind her. She started running hot water in the sink in order to try and clean herself up a little. She felt so dirty, but she knew she did not have time for a shower. That could come later when she knew her people were safe.

Elizabeth felt the panic rise to her chest from what had happened mere minutes ago in her office. She collapsed onto the seat of the toilet and started to rock back and forth while the memories played out in her head. _I don't have time for this_, she thought to herself, and fought to pry her focus back to what was happening right this minute. _I need to clean up, and get back to the control room before anything else happens to my people. _She took a deep breath, and struggled to stand up. Once standing she was able to get out of her torn uniform. _Luckily he only ripped my shirt; I only brought 3 pairs of uniform pants. _She grinned at the odd directions her thoughts were taking her as she was struggling to deal with all that had happened to her.

Once she was undressed from the waist down, she was able to wash off the sweat and the smell of sex from her skin. She quickly got her pants on and sat back down on the toilet. She struggled to catch her breath, as the exertion to clean and change had taken it's toll on her bruised body. She looked down at her bra covered chest and marveled at the fact that Kolya had not cut that off her. 'Rape is not about sex, but about power,' she remembered hearing a lecturer state. Elizabeth never really knew what that meant until now, as she realized that Kolya got off by the play of emotions on her face, and not on the act of sex itself. _He wont get that satisfaction again_, her eyes blazed as she made this promise to herself.

Dr. Weir pushed herself back to an upright position. She was glad that she did not have to change her bra, as the thought of trying to clasp the back of one with her injured shoulder brought the knowledge of the pain back to the forefront of her mind. _Well that was one good thing about almost going into shock, _she thought, _I forgot about that wound without feeling the pain. _She struggled through the pain in order to pull the red shirt over her head, while being careful not to jostle the bandage.

Once she was done getting her shirt on, she looked at herself in the mirror. She watched her facial expressions and put on the mask in order to not let Kolya have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. Dr. Weir also mused how her mask would keep Rodney and others from finding out what had transpired in her office. There was not time for sympathy; they needed to get back to the task of saving Atlantis. That was all that mattered right now. With her mask in place, Elizabeth put her jacket on as carefully as possible; she then squared her shoulders, and grasped the handle of the door in order to face reality again. She was grateful for the few moments she had in which to get away from the harshness of what was going on in the city, but she knew she must get back.

* * *

When Sora and Dr. Weir walked back into the control room, they could hear Sheppard's voice over the comm. berating Commander Kolya. They were drawn into the gist of the conversation when Kolya drew his pistol while stating, "I don't like even." He pointed the gun at Elizabeth, "Say good-bye to Dr. Weir."

Elizabeth tried to keep her mask in place, but is cracked slightly under the pressure, and Kolya was able to see the fear that danced across her eyes. He thought she was afraid for her own life, but she was mainly worried about what would happen to the city, and to her people if she was gone. _You are not some miraculous savior, they will make do_, she thought and pulled her mask back in place. "How is this going to help you get what you want?" Dr. Weir asked Kolya.

"Sheppard put you in this position not me," he replied while looking into her eyes for any slight glimpse of emotions. He almost wanted to pull the trigger just to see the look of pain on her face, and he remembered the pain he saw when he pulled the knife from her shoulder.

In the next second though, Elizabeth really feared for life; but not her own. Dr. McKay stepped between her and the gun. "You can't do this. This is crazy. You need her."

Sora took the opportunity to try and talk her leader out of what he was planning. "She's right! Commander." Sora hoped that her commander would do what was more important for the mission than for his own personal agenda.

McKay started stuttering that Kolya needed both of them alive in order to get the codes needed to activate the shield. He was winging it, and hoped that the man in front of him would not notice the slight sheen of perspiration that had started to cover his forehead as he struggled with the life and death situation he was literally standing in front of.

"Rodney… Rodney he gets it…" Elizabeth touched Rodney on the arm in order to bring him out of the babbling state that he had fallen into. _I can't believe he did that for me_.

When Kolya finally walks away, Rodney turned to Sora to thank her, "I appreciate…"

"You're an asset we need to complete this mission," but as Sora walked away, she wondered if that was the only reason for what she did.

Once Dr. Weir and Dr. McKay were alone, she faced Rodney and asked the questions she was dying to ask, "You stood in front of a gun for me…"

She did not get a chance to complete her thought as Rodney interrupted and reminded her that if they did not get the other grounding station separated that he might have only lengthened her life for a few hours. Dr. Weir closed her eyes and thought of all that had happened in the past few hours. Dr. McKay and been stabbed and interrogated, she had been raped, cut, and threatened with a gun, and two good men had lost their lives. She wondered how much more death and pain this storm would cause before it finally abated.


	3. part3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 3**

Kolya wandered into Dr. Weir's office, glanced at the floor beside the desk, and marveled at the day he was having so far. He felt exhilarated by the thoughts of Elizabeth and the emotions he could provoke from her. Kolya realized that she was not as giving with her emotions after the incident earlier in her office, and he assumed that it was because he had broken the fearlessleader. _She was definitely not fearless earlier,_ he smirked to himself.

That thought about breaking the leader brought Kolya's thoughts back to Major Sheppard, and how he did not know if Dr. Weir was alive or not. He decided to contact the Major and clue him in to all that had happened. He picked up the radio and spoke forcibly to the annoying man on the other side of the transmission, "How's this for credibility? Weir is dead."

At the same moment, Dr. Weir was trying to sneak past her office door in order to talk to Sora again. She noticed the errant look that Sora gave her CO earlier, and was hoping to find some support to help her people. It was a long shot, Dr. Weir knew; however, she was willing to try anything to help her people. She mused over the idea of doing anything to help, but here she was sneaking past her own office door. Dr. Weir realized at that moment that there was a difference between doing anything to help, and outright stating 'Here I am.'

She heard John reply slowly while pronouncing each word carefully, "I … am… going… to … kill… you." Elizabeth wanted to let Major Sheppard know that she was okay; however, she could not guarantee that the button was pressed on the radio Kolya had that would let the Major hear her. Dr. Weir also decided that it would be safer at the moment for all involved to let him think her dead. She hated to do it to him, but she knew that her still being alive was not set in stone like she would like. Everyone's life in Atlantis, including those of the Genii, was hanging on a thin thread that could be broken any moment by the encroaching storm.

Dr. Weir started to slip away when she heard Kolya's response, "Maybe…stay out of my way. Or McKay will join her." Elizabeth heard the radio click off and then shuddered when she heard Kolya state to no one in particular, "Dr. Weir is dead, but I still have work to do on Elizabeth."

_The hell I am._ Dr. Weir screamed internally. She wondered how her actions might have shown him that he had pushed her that far. Dr. Weir smiled to herself as she realized _It doesn't matter what he thinks. I know better. I bet I can use this to my advantage. _She hated playing the simpering scared female, but if it would get Kolya to believe she was weak, and not worth much military attention she would use it. She smiled more internally as her thoughts for how to manipulate Kolya started to form. She let her mind and her feet led her to Sora and to the plan of playing the weak female.

Dr. Weir never did get to talk to Sora, as Kolya came out of her office as she neared her target. Dr. Weir glanced toward Kolya. When he noticed her looking at him, she shifted her eyes to look at the floor, and hurried over to Dr. McKay's side. _Playing simpering female take one_, she thought to herself trying not to defy her chance and gaze hatefully straight at Kolya.

Dr. Weir heard the heavy footsteps of the Genii commander come toward her and Rodney. She shifted her stance to place Rodney between Kolya and herself. To Kolya it appeared as though Elizabeth did not want to be close to him at all, and he smirked at that knowledge. But to Dr. Weir, the shifting helped her see Kolya without having to shift her head much at all. She noticed the smirk on his face at the thought that he had won in breaking the leader of Atlantis.

"Come," Commander Kolya stated to the two members of Atlantis. He turned his gaze to look more at Dr. McKay and grabbed his right arm where he had been stabbed earlier. "You need to fix the final grounding station."

It took all the focus Dr. Weir had to not say or do anything too rash when she heard Rodney whimper in pain as Kolya gripped his arm. She wanted to rip the Genii commander apart limb by limb; however she knew that now was not the time to act. She bit the inside of her lip in order to prevent herself from saying something that would pull Kolya's thoughts back to the leader of Atlantis, and thereby knowing that he did not break her. She was glad to realize that the two males started to walk away when she noticed the taste of blood in her month. Dr. Weir kept her head down and followed the two like a beaten puppy all the way to grounding station 3.

* * *

As the threesome walking out to view the damage to grounding station 3, they were drenched in mere seconds as the rain beat down on them. Elizabeth felt the freezing spray hit her full force; however, to her it was the closest thing she was going to get to a shower, and the washing away of the filth she felt that Kolya left behind when he touched her. She did not get much time to revel in the feeling of the grime being washed away as her attention was brought back to the two men standing next to her.

Elizabeth heard Rodney tell Commander Kolya that he could have the repairs made in 15 to 20 minutes. While Dr. Weir appreciated the speed and accuracy with which Dr. McKay normally did his work, she hoped that she would have a change to tell him to stall for more time. She knew that their importance was the only thing that was currently keeping them alive; once the repairs were made, she could not guarantee that the Genii would see enough worth in them to keep them alive. Elizabeth shuddered at the thought that Kolya might see enough reason to keep her alive. _That's not important right now, I need to concentrate on saving the city, and getting the people back here where they belong._

"Dr. Weir I need you to…" Rodney pulled her attention back to the grounding station and the pounding rain.

"Right of course," she leans closer to Rodney with the light so that he could see what he was doing. Personally Elizabeth was glad for a valid reason to get away from Kolya. The rain was helping her feel slightly cleaner; nevertheless, standing next to him for any length of time made her ill at ease.

Dr. Weir watched Rodney work, and glanced over occasionally to see if Commander Kolya was far enough away that she could talk. While he kept walking slightly away, she could not be sure that the wind would not carry her traitorous words to him. She finally got the change to talk privately to Dr. McKay when Sora called to tell him about the death of three more of the Genii raiders at the hands of Major Sheppard.

"Why did you tell him you could have this fixed in 15 to 20 minutes?" Dr. Weir nearly had to shout to be heard over the raging storm. She listened as Rodney replied that it was to keep Kolya from killing them. _While he is a bright man in certain areas, he is certainly very dense in others._ Dr. Weir forced herself to breath in and out before she replied, "I understand that. But once the shield is operational, we won't be very useful now will we?"

If there was a literal light bulb on top of Rodney's head, it would now be able to light up all of Atlantis. Dr. Weir watched as his eyes got bigger and he yelled at Elizabeth, "Why did you let me tell him I could fix it in 15 to 20…"

_Like anyone has much control over what comes out of him mouth…or goes in it for that matter,_ Elizabeth thought about the brilliant scientist who acts like a vacuum cleaner whenever there is food around. _Unless it has citrus,_ she thought wryly. Dr Weir shoved her thoughts away and responded to Dr. McKay that he needed to stall for more time, and hopefully they could give Major Sheppard a chance to take care of the remaining Genii.

That hope was dashed when they heard Kolya command Sora to call Chief Cowen to ask for reinforcements. To make matters worse, he smirked and turned to Doctors Weir and McKay stating, "If you're hoping Major Sheppard can diminish our numbers, you are mistaken."


	4. part4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 4**

Back in the control room, Sora called in for reinforcements as she was commanded to do. While she waited for her comrades to dial in so that she could inform them of what was going on in the city, she was watching the dot on the screen that she knew to be Major Sheppard. All of the sudden the lights and many of the systems around her blinked off. She knew that her people might not look that technologically advanced, but she knew enough to know that she did not touch anything that would cause the reaction that she was seeing. _Or not seeing, _she thought sardonically. "What's he done now," she asked no one in general assuming that the Major was the cause the malfunctions that she and Laden were experiencing. She knew that her Commander was not going to be happy when she told him that the Major had cut power to the secondary systems, and therefore, the Genii had no way of tracking him.

As the primary systems were still on line, Laden was able to determine when Major Sheppard disabled another generator. Laden contacted his Commander, however, he need not have bothered as the area of the city that was blacked out from the second generator going off line included the area that grounding station 3 occupied. Therefore Kolya had first hand knowledge of the problems that Major Sheppard were causing for the Genii strike force.

Sora listened to Laden inform their Commander about the power outage while looking out the nearest window at the blackening sky that was made even more ominous without the lights from the control room to push back that darkness. She was getting worried as the storm was getting closer to Atlantis. She came to the grim realization that it was her duty to the Genii people as a whole to inform her CO that he might be overstepping the bounds of this mission. _How to word this without my life being forfeit as a traitor_ she thought for a couple minutes before she contacted Kolya back with her well thought out words. "Commander, the storm is not slowing its pace. We have little time to get the shields activated…we should re-evaluate our goal. Perhaps…"

Sora was cut off by Kolya before she could go any farther with her voiced thoughts. "We still have move than enough time to complete our objectives."

_Our objectives did not include taking the city,_ she thought bitterly. She was left with the instructions to guard the remaining generators when the reinforcements came through the stargate. She knew better than to say anything else on the subject, as her CO considered the subject dropped. Sora closed the link to her commanding officer, and mentally worked on calculating how the incoming Genii force could be used to guard the generators, and to find the equipment that the Genii so desperately needed. And then there was the added trouble of finding the Major now that the life sign detector was not working. With the size of Atlantis, she knew that with the reinforcements in team of twos, that it would take a great deal of time to find Major Sheppard. "How many should we expect?" she asked Laden hoping to determine how best to use the men before they stepped through the gate and looked to her for their assignment.

"A full company…60 or more," he gave her the figures that she needed, and then added to himself, "I don't know how we were expected to take a facility this size with any less?"

_We weren't supposed to take the city, _she thought to herself about the decision that Commander Kolya made for the entire Genii population when he got here. "It was supposed to be a raid to retrieve what was rightfully ours," she replied to Laden's voiced question. The silence fell around the two companions while they waited with batted breath for their friends to arrive. Sora was relieved when she saw the gate start to spin, and the blue lights blink on registering that someone was dialing in. She had the orders ready for the incoming men, so she decided to meet the incoming strike force at the gate and to give them their orders right away. She motioned to the two men standing near herself and Laden and commanded, "with me… come on." The two guards followed her to the gate in order to hear their new orders when the incoming men arrived.

Sora and the two men with her stepped toward the gate and watched as the first of the reinforcements started to come through. After 5 men came through the gate, Sora saw a simmering substance cover the gate, and then heard the horrific sounds of objects hitting the barrier. She was hit with a sickening sensation as she realized that her friends and comrades were dying in front of her. She glanced back toward the main control panel for the gate room to plead with Laden to undo whatever he might have accidentally done. "Shut it off Laden!" she shouted as she turned.

When she looked up, she did not see an apologetic Laden, but an irate major trying to protect his city. "Get him," she yelled to the men around her as she noticed Laden sprawled out on the floor besides the control panel, and she was momentarily relieved when she noticed that his chest was rising and falling with his breathing. However the lives of all the men that where cut short as they impacted the shield was bought back to the forefront of her mind when she heard another impact strike. She tried to contact her people on the planet to inform them of the danger facing those who stepped through the gate. "This is Sora. Stop sending the reinforcements. The stargate shield has been raised."

Sora rushed up toward the control panel as she tried to see if she could determine how to shut down the gate. She knew that she needed to inform her commander about what was going on, and she dreaded the explosive reaction that she knew this would cause. "Sheppard has raised the gate shield," Sora radioed over to Commander Kolya.

"Shut it down. Turn it off." Kolya bit back the command to Sora.

Sora glanced over the keys on the control panel and could not make any sense of them. "I don't know how," she tried to bring her emotions under control as the panic of not being able to help her colleagues tried to pull her into a pit of despair. "Laden is unconscious," she stated as a reason for why the shield could not be shut off from this end. Sora heard as her CO tried to determine how to shut down the gate from the two Atlantians that he had captive.

* * *

Dr. Weir let a slight smile come to her face as she realized what Major Sheppard had done for them and the city as a whole. Without the full company that Commander Kolya was expecting, they still had a chance at fighting back and saving the city and returning their people where they belonged. She let he smile drop knowing that that show of emotions might enrage the commander, and he might do something to them in retaliation. She realized how enraged he could get when he turned to Rodney with hate in his eyes.

"Tell her the procedure!" Kolya bellowed to Dr. McKay. The commander knew that the two people near him had been listening in to the conversation. He saw this from the slight look of satisfaction that he saw in Elizabeth's face when she heard about what the Major had done. While in a different situation he longed to see her emotions, the current display enraged him almost as much as the death this was causing to his men. As the two in front of him knew what was going on, he did not need to waste time relaying the situation.

Rodney McKay also saw the emotions that played in Kolya's eyes, and this brought the safety of his life back into question. _Well more so than just with the threat of the storm, the lightening strikes, the shield not working, oh and don't forget the infection that could start eating away at the gapping wound in my arm_. That thought might have started him manically laughing if it wasn't for the fact that Commander Kolya was still coming towards his, and Rodney thought any sound other than a straight forward answer would push Kolya into doing something drastic. Therefore Rodney stated, "I don't know what he's done…"

Doctor McKay would have gone on with his excessive babbling if Kolya wouldn't have interrupted him with a curt, "TELL HER!"

"He must have entered his own personal command code." Rodney replied.

"What is it?" Kolya asked as he pushed Rodney against the edge of the balcony.

Rodney was afraid of just about everything in the world, and heights and death were two of his bigger fears. _Well they are the only fears staring me in the face right this second, so maybe that's why they are coming to mind. If I make it through this situation, storms will have to be added to that list. _ His intellectual side kicked in as the fear of death was almost too much for Rodney to handle at the current time. "I don't know!" he bit back to Kolya, hoping that he might bring him back toward the safety of the center of the grounding station.

Dr. Weir watched as Kolya threatened Rodney. She saw the anger that was shown in Kolya's face and she feared what he might do since Rodney could not help in the present situation. She quickly closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself from what she was about to do. Elizabeth stepped toward the two men and grabbed hold of Commander Kolya's arm in an effort to pull him away from the petrified man hanging over the balcony railing. "Only Sheppard would know it!" she stated once she could form words over the lump in her throat that formed when she willingly touched the repulsive man in front of her.

"Trust me I'm not that brave. I would help you if I could," Rodney rambled on, trying to talk his way down from the precarious situation that he was in.

Kolya held Dr. McKay against the railing as he turned his face toward the figure that was gripping his arm. "You have command codes!"

Dr. Weir wished that she could help Kolya the way that he was looking for as to hopefully secure Rodney's life for the present moment; however she could not help him. She was getting ready to tell Kolya something similar to what Rodney told him when she heard Sora over the radio state, "It's no use. It's over. The gate has shut down…there are no more men coming."

Dr. Weir saw the look of grief win out over the anger on Kolya's face while he replied, "How many men made it?"

"5. 5 of 60." Sora answered in a deadpan voice.

Kolya's grief was short lived, and the anger once again raged toward the man in front of him. He pushed Rodney harder against the railing, to the point that Dr. McKay knew that he was going to be sporting a large bruise across his back if he survived this night. Rodney watched as Elizabeth gripped harder at his capturer, and fought for his life. The courage that he saw from his leader gave him the push that he needed to try and save his own life. "You still need me if you want this city! You still need the both of us."

Elizabeth was awed when Rodney stood up for himself, even more so than when he stood up for her when Kolya threatened her with his gun. She knew that it took a tremendous amount of strength to stand up to your fears. But while she saw this accomplishment in others around her, she was not able to see it in herself. She did not realize the amount of courage and strength it took for her to stand up to Kolya. Dr. Weir just saw it as a necessity to try and save a member of her team.

Dr. Weir had too much to deal with currently to ponder her situation for long and as Kolya walked off she glanced out toward the ominous black storm clouds. While she still feared for the city and its people, she was struck by a sense of calm that stemmed from the protection she felt when Rodney and she were left alone in the corner of the grounding station. She knew that the calm would not last. It was the proverbial calm before the storm. As Elizabeth watched the far off clouds swirling in the intense wind, she wondered what the next chapter of this situation would bring for her people and the marvelous city.

* * *

AN: Future warnings as I'm slowing trying to get through this episode, I'm trying to weave the characters through parts of the story that might have happened between the scenes. Therefore I'm trying to be methodical about it—maybe too much so. I see a little bit where this story is going, and I have a lot past this episode that I'm looking forward to getting to (seem to want to write that over the present storyline—but I need to lay the ground work). I'm going to try to continue weaving the characters through the stories from the series, as many situations from the show I can relate to where I want to go. I see this story as becoming a romance with Rodney and Elizabeth, I do like John and Liz—but currently seeing more fun stuff in the future if I go the former route—even though a good suggestion might sway me one way or the other :) Thanks for those who keep reading and enjoying this story. I hope you will stick with my as I deal with my life, and determine slowly how to deal with the lives in the story. THANKS! 


	5. part5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 5**

As Kolya walked away from the two Atlantians, he radioed Sora to determine if his friend Athor's son made it through the gate. Idos was like his father in many ways one such way was that he was a brilliant soldier that Kolya himself had helped mold into the fighter he had become. "…Idos. Did he make it?"

"No sir."

At those two words a look of grief passed over Kolya's face. That look however was short lived to the anger that started to boil up at the idea of how he was to tell his friend that he was the cause of his son's death. _No not me, Major Sheppard. _The anger got more intense as he thought of the death of a good soldier… of many good soldiers. "Over sixty men killed!" Kolya stated in a voice that was more passionate than if he would have shouted it to the black clouds moving slowly across the sky.

"Defending his home and his people Commander… as we would," Sora stated. As the words spilled forth from her mouth, the realization that the Genii and the Atlantians were no different took a stronger foothold in her thoughts. Major Sheppard and the others from Atlantis were fighting for their lives, the lives of their comrades, and for their city. The Genii would do no less. She knew that she could not fault the Major for the deaths of those sixty men, as he was forced into that action by her hand, and that of her people. Her thoughts almost made her miss the question that her Commander asked next.

"When can more reinforcements be sent?"

Sora knew that Commander Kolya was not going to like her response yet again. She took a deep breath before stating, "it will take time…perhaps an hour." She hoped that time frame would appease him.

That hope was dashed when he barked back, "unacceptable."

Sora knew that she was stepping very close to the thin line before mutiny as she told the commander what she really thought. "Yes Commander, it is unacceptable, because by then we will be in the full force of the storm." _And if we are still here then there will be more Genii deaths that do not need to occur, and will not benefit our people. _Sora would have said more to her CO however she realized that the signal between them had been shut off.

* * *

"Probably sooner," Rodney McKay voiced after Sora's comment about when the storm would arrive. A glare from Kolya sent McKay back to looking at the floor, mentally berating himself for letting his smart ass comments fly in the midst of life threatening situations like this one. _It's a defense mechanism, _he reminded himself before he could feel too bad about his comment. _Anyways it is the truth. _As Rodney was looking at his shoes, he missed the look that passed between Elizabeth and Kolya.

Kolya was trying to figure out what to do now. The Major had messed up all of his plans so far. _Except for the ones made on the go, in certain offices,_ Kolya sneered and glanced toward Elizabeth. She happened to be looking at him at the precise moment trying to measure what he was thinking, and if she was going to have to fight for their lives to be spared yet again. Kolya's grin got wider as he saw her eyes on him, and how she responded to his glance. He knew how to get back at the Major, and to get the city, and it all centered on her. For a second his thoughts strayed to what he would do once the storm was over, and he had those three, the Major, Elizabeth, and the city, within his grasp. _That will wait for later, but for now _"Major Sheppard. I have a proposition for you."

* * *

Dr. Weir knew that Kolya was angry at the Major for all the grief he had caused the Genii. She realized how angry he was when she had to literally pull the commander off Rodney. As she listened into his conversation with Sora, Elizabeth could tell that Kolya not only lost his soldiers, but also someone that he was close to on a more personal basis. If it was any other person, she would have felt sorry for the man in front of her that was grieving over the loss of good men. However as it was Kolya, it only made her fear his reaction even more. Dr. Weir tried to swallow that fear in order to study the Genii commander to watch out for how he might retaliate.

That fear stayed at bay only until Kolya glanced at her with a leer, and Elizabeth saw his eyes light up in a predatory fashion as he caught her looking at him. She quickly averted her eyes away from the creature in front of her and told herself to breath deeply to try and fight off the nausea that started to churn in her stomach as she saw the look in him eyes. She had seen that look before, and her mind started to play out the scene that happened afterward in her office. She clutched her knees to her chest, and the outside world started to fade away.

The wall that she was leaning against felt more like the smooth flooring that covered the floors in Atlantis. The rain pelting all over the tired leader started to feel like crawling fingertips across her skin. Her thoughts however were pulled away from her nightmare when she heard Major Sheppard exclaim through the radio, "Weir's alive," followed a few seconds later by, "Let me talk to her."

Elizabeth saw Kolya started to walk toward her. She flashed back briefly to him walking toward her in her office _I've got to deal with this for my people, _she thought as she straightened up to stand in front of Kolya and squared her shoulders, "Sheppard! We're both here!" she shouted over the storm.

Dr. Weir could hear the relief in the Major's voice as he replied, "It's good to hear you're voice."

"Yeah it's good to hear," she responded back. She heard Kolya go on to give Major Sheppard ten minutes to get the power back up for the grounding station, or she would die. Her thoughts played over the last few moments in her head. Dr. Weir hated that Kolya had seen her act so afraid. She started to put her stoic mask back up full force so that he would not see any reaction from her, but remembered that he was expecting to see her as a beaten puppy. _This can still work out in our favor. I can't mess up now. _These thoughts stirred her desire to help her people even more. She walked toward Rodney and sat down next to him to see how he was faring. He was the city's, and therefore it's peoples' best chance for survival. She had to stand behind him to support him through this burden.

* * *

Rodney was still glancing down at his feet when Elizabeth came to sit next to him. "How are you doing Rodney?" she asked as she sitting down.

"Great!" he replied in such a fashion that Elizabeth knew something else was to follow. She was not let down when he continued, "How do you think I doing! It's cold and wet. I'm going to catch my death out here. If the cold doesn't kill me, then the bacteria that is surely in the atmosphere is seeping into the gapping hole in my arm. It might need amputated when this is all over. And to top that off if I don't get something to eat soon I might go into hypoglycemic shock. That is if I'm not going into shock already from the blood loss. So I'm great, just great. How bout you?"

Elizabeth fought the desire to bite back at Rodney about how she really was. _Let see. I've been raped in my office, there goes my safe haven, threatened with a gun, have a hole in my shoulder, and get to pretend as all is great to get this city back. So I'm great, just great. _"Rodney!" she said sternly. Once she knew that he was looking at her she continued with her thoughts, "We will get through this. We must." Dr. Weir wished that she would have thought to grab a powerbar when she was in her bedroom. She knew that Rodney was not making up that part of how he was doing. "When the storm passes, you can have all the powerbars and MREs you want, ok?" She got what she was looking for as she saw a slight smile pass over Rodney's mouth. "And I'll personally make sure that there are no citrus products in the bunch, what do you think?" The smile got wider, and a small chuckle escaped through his parted lips.

"Do I have your word on that, the whole smorgasborddeal? Just need to make sure so the military guys don't get on my case about the food shortage again."

"Deal," Elizabeth said as they shook his hand on it. They both knew that it was made in jest as the food shortage was a big deal in the city currently. However that was a situation to deal with once the city was recovered, and then protected from the storm.

Silence crept back between the two and they stared out at the approaching storm. The silence gave both of them time to think about all had happened since the day started. Rodney's mind played over the infliction of the wound on his arm, and how he couldn't hold out to the pain. "I tried," he whispered to the swirling air about him. The only reason that Elizabeth heard his words was because they were sitting side-by-side trying to keep warm.

"What Rodney, what did you try to do?" Elizabeth asked. While she knew the answer to her question, she also knew that he needed to get his thoughts off his chest. She wished that she had someone with which she could talk to about her ordeal, but she knew her people came first. And anyway, her story would affect Dr. McKay's ability to do his work. Telling his story would help him, and as he would then protect the city, he was more important.

Rodney looked down at the wound in his right arm. "I tried to not mention the plan to protect the city from the storm, but I have a big mouth," his voice started to sound bitter with the anger he felt toward himself. More quietly he added more to himself than to Elizabeth, "I just wanted away from the pain. Why couldn't I be more like the John, or Aiden, they wouldn't have caved in so quickly. Neither would Teyla for that matter." His eye brows shifted together, and Elizabeth could see that his eyes held a few drops of moisture that were not there because of the rain.

If the situation was not as serious, Elizabeth might have made a comment about Rodney having a big mouth and devouring any food in sight. However, Dr. Weir took the route that she knew he needed to hear. "Rodney… Rodney, look at me." Once she was sure that his gave was locked on her face, and not on the knife wound in his arm, she continued. "You did nothing wrong! If it wasn't for you, Kolya would not know that this station needs repair. And then where would we be." Elizabeth saw the pensive look on Rodney's face as he thought about the truth behind her words. "The city would have no chance. Our people would have no chance. Kolya needed to know. You did not let our people down. You did not let me down."

Elizabeth knew that she was getting through to Rodney when he stopped chewing on the bottom of his lip as he pondered over the situation. Therefore, she decided to go onto the other topic that Rodney brought up; his inability to withstand the pain of torture. "Both Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford are military," she saw Rodney start to open his mouth to make a comment so she quickly placed her right index finger over his mouth in order to signal him into silence so she could continue. "They have been trained how to deal with torture and interrogation." Elizabeth saw Rodney grimace when she mentioned the word torture, and knew that he did not want to acknowledge the harsh word as being the truth, just as she knew she would react if someone would mention to her that she was raped. "Teyla has spend her life dealing with the Wraith threat to her people, and how to protect them. We all do what we are good at. Don't beat yourself up for having a different path then your teammates." Trying to lighting up the situation Elizabeth added, "I mean really, can you see John in your shoes. Do you think that he would be able to pull brilliant technological ideas out of the air in order to protect the city time and time again?" Elizabeth let out a chuckle picturing the confused look that Major Sheppard got on his face every time Rodney went into on of his technobabble speeches. The grin on Rodney's face at least let her know that he was starting to picture what she was trying to convey to him.

Dr. Weir let the silence continue her debate with Dr. McKay. She could tell that he was mentally going over everything that she had said to him, and was weighing the truth of her words against what he logically could see. After a few minutes Elizabeth decided to continue her thoughts hoping to make Rodney feel that he was not alone in his grief and anger. "I know it is hard to deal with all that has happened today. But we must for all of Atlantis." The way Elizabeth said these words, Rodney knew that she was talking on a more personal level. He was about to ask her how she could possibly know what he was dealing with when the lights came back on. The thoughts of this conversation, and his desire to question Elizabeth slipped from his mind when he saw Kolya start to walk over to them. He knew that it was time to put his thoughts aside and deal with helping Dr. Weir save the city.


	6. part6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 6**

Sora was walking down the corridor toward the generator room where her comrades had Major Sheppard in custody. She heard voices ahead of her. The first voice she heard was that of Major Sheppard. She grinned knowing that her people finally had him in custody, and that the killing of the Genii would now stop. That thought however was shattered when she heard another man respond to the Major; a man with a voice she did not know. Sora tried to melt into the shadows to determine what was going on. She heard Major Sheppard respond to the unknown man, and then heard a voice she would never forget say, "We should leave this area. More Genii will be on their way."

Sora saw red as she thought about Teyla Emmagan's role in her father's death. Sora watched as the foursome left the generator room, and she started to stealthily follow them. Her thoughts were so geared toward figuring out how to get to Teyla that she did not bother to check on her comrades that were down. Nor did she think about what problems the additional Atlantians would bring for her people, and their goals of procuring the city.

* * *

Dr. Weir was holding the laptop so that Rodney could read the schematics for the control station. As he was fiddling around with the last wire he feared what might happen if he could not get the grounding station separated. Dr. McKay knew that he and Elizabeth were only a valuable commodity if they could do what they were commanded. While he knew that he was a genius, he also knew that he was a human prone to errors, even though he would never tell that to anyone. "If this doesn't work…"

"It will." Dr. Weir tried to reassure him that everything would work out fine.

"I'm just saying if it doesn't work…" he again tried to voice his feelings which revolved around the usual speech of 'it's been great working for a wonderful and charming leader like yourself.'

He was not able to finish as Elizabeth cut him off again with a little more force, but still trying to sound comforting, "it will."

Rodney was never one that liked being cut off. He loved to hear his voice, and even more so in threatening environments as if to calm himself. While others wondered about that habit at it only seemed to annoy those around him, and therefore many times put him in more danger. "I'm sure it will work," Dr. McKay said in a flippant manner before adding, "but in the unlikely event that it doesn't…"

Dr. Weir was known for having infallible patience when dealing with just about any diplomatic mission you could think of. However in the midst of the freezing rain, a scientist that would not shut up about the doom that might befall them, and the shit she had already put up with on this lovely day in the Pegasus Galaxy she lost her cool. "Rodney! Please." Elizabeth could not deal with the thought of what might happen to them if things did not work out. She feared what failure might bring to them… to her.

She did not shout more than was needed to be heard over the storm, but Rodney could tell by the tone of her voice that she was on edge. He knew that any sane person would be when faced with the situation they were in; however he did not know that the day would get to Dr. Weir so much that she would let others see that by snapping at them. Dr. Weir had always shown herself to be a person in control of any situation, and the fact that she would drop her leader's mask for only an instant worried Rodney to the point he was stunned into silence. This momentous occasion was spent rearranging the final crystal into position. Dr. McKay breathed a sign of relief as the grounding structure separated and stated, "Oh thank god." _One hurdle in saving the city down, only a few more to go, _he thought. However the next few steps were going to be trickier with the Genii in the city. Rodney knew that he needed to remind Kolya about the rest of his plan before the commander tried to force it out of his with a sharp object. He felt a little more at ease with telling what the plan was as the city needed to be saved from this storm first, as Elizabeth had reminded him earlier. IF his plan worked, then the plan of trying to take back the city would be important, else it was a moot point.

* * *

Kolya went back to the control room and the protection that that part of the city would give his men. He noticed that Sora was not present and was a little peeved that she had not contacted him in order to inform him how the capture of Major Sheppard was progressing. "Why haven't you responded?" he questioned angrily into his radio.

"She here," she whispered into her own radio so that the foursome that she was following would not hear her words.

"Who?"

"Teyla…she and two others have joined Sheppard." Sora was so intent in her desire to get to Teyla, that she did not even think how enraged this information would make her Commander.

More so, Commander Kolya was first and foremost angry that his soldier had not reported this fact when it first came to light. He brought up this insubordination by asking, "Why wasn't this reported sooner?" Kolya knew he would have time to punish her later, but now he needed to make sure that she was safe from the storm. "Fall back to the control room immediately."

"She's just out of my reach. If I am patient…"

"I gave you an order," Commander Kolya barked out letting Sora realize how she was straying out of the bounds that were in place for military personnel.

"She left my father for dead." Sora stated furiously. She almost did not reign in her emotions in time to lower her voice to the volume that it was. She wanted to yell it with all the air that could fill her lungs. She wanted Teyla to turn around and face her. She wanted revenge. But Sora knew that she must wait for a more opportune time. That time was coming soon she could feel it.

Kolya tried to make her see reason, "The storm is upon us. The city is no longer safe."

"I don't care," Sora realized as she said this that she did not care about her death as long as she got to see the life drain from Teyla Emmagan first. She could not understand how her commander had the right to order her from this task that she so desperately needed to see through. At least she risked only her life, unlike Kolya who in his desire to take the city was putting many Genii at risk. If he could go after his own vendetta, then who was he to deny her the same?

"Fall back," Commander Kolya ordered. He again tried to reason with her, "You have my word that your father will be avenged."

The command left no room for interpretation, but Sora could care less about the reprimand that she might receive from her commander. She desired revenge so much that her stomach churned with her contempt for the female walking only a few steps away. Kolya had mentioned that her father would be avenged, and that time was now at hand. "By me," she said as she turned off her radio.

She continued to following the foursome after she turned off the radio, and soon she saw her chance to get at Teyla. Sora watched as the group split up. Major Sheppard and the other soldier went one way while Teyla and the imbecile who could barely hold a weapon correctly hurried down the opposite corridor. _Perfect_, Sora thought as she followed her prey.

Teyla took the forward position, and left Dr. Beckett to watch their backs. This was the best course of action to take. The Genii would all be in the control room to stay safe from the storm once the shield was raised. Teyla did not take into account that one lone Genii soldier would be following the doctor and herself. They came to a storage room and Teyla took point to scout out the room to determine that no Genii were hiding in the shadows.

As Teyla stepped into the room and away from the doctor, Sora came up behind Carson and quickly and efficiently took him out of the scenario, by hitting him upside the head with her weapon. Sora knew that he would be no match for her as he talked more than watching his own back. However she wanted to take on Teyla alone, without the fear of the man trying to get in her way. Teyla heard Doctor Beckett crumple behind her, and turned to face Sora. Both trained their weapons on the woman in front of them. "Drop it," Sora commanded as she shifted the barrel of the gun toward the prone doctor. "I'll kill him." Sora knew that Teyla was a very commendable person and would not want to put others at risk when she could prevent it. _At least when it involves her own friends and family,_ she thought bitterly. Teyla dropped the weapon as was expected. Sora looked at her own gun in her hands and determines that feeling Teyla's blood flow from her body would be a much more befitting death. She slid her weapon across the floor away from the two of them while stating calmly, "I would hate to have to kill you so quickly."

Teyla stepped farther in the room, trying to get Sora away from Carson. She glanced quickly over to him, and could see that he was still breathing as the floor by his mouth and nose would fog up every few seconds. _Good, I can put all of my thoughts on apprehending Sora_, but as she thought this, she also thought how hard it would be to have to battle a life long acquaintance and friend. "I have known you for most of your life, why are you doing this?" Teyla asked, hoping that she could get Sora to see reason.

That question sparked Sora's anger, as she wondered how someone she knew for so long could condemn her father to death, thereby making her an orphan. "You left him to die," Sora spat out as she pulled out a knife that was strapped to her waist.

Teyla remembered the situation that Sora was talking about. She watched her memories play out and saw Sora's father pull out his weapon. Tirus shot the person who was asking for her help, as he feared any rescue attempt would alert the Wraith. Instead, his own weapon fire alerted them to the intruders. Teyla hid behind a column and watched as Sora's father was gunned down by the Wraith. She wanted to go to him, but she knew that he was already dead as she saw where he was shot. Teyla knew she had to warn the others, and that warning outweighed the desire to bring back a dead corpse to his family; because if they didn't get out of the hive ship soon, there would be no going back at all.

Teyla pulled her thoughts back to the fight at hand. "Your father killed an innocent. He alerted the Wraith to our presence."

Sora thought about the father she knew. Teyla's remark went with the impulsive father from her memories. He would get it into his head to do something, and nothing would change his mind. Not even his daughter's pleas to not go hunt the beast that roamed the woods near the village, would sway him to keep away from possible danger if he saw fit. She could see her father doing something so detrimental, but as all children want to have faith in their parents Sora would not see reason to end this fight. She placed her anger back on the person in front of her. "And you escaped!" Sora stated. This was hard for her to fathom as she would fight to the death to try to protect someone that she had known for as long as Teyla had known her family.

"If I am to die by your hands Sora, I die knowing that there's nothing I could have done to have saved Tirus." Teyla could understand the hate and anger from the girl in front of her. She had felt the same anger when the Wraith took her own father. Teyla wanted to lash out at the world, but there was no one to blame for his death other than the Wraith. Halling helped her to see that fact, at the same time as he fought her, to let her release the pent up anger that she was carrying. Teyla could she herself in Sora's eyes, and knew that she needed to get the anger she felt out. If fighting her was the only way to help, Teyla knew she would be there for her as she was not there for Tirus.

Sora waived the knife through the air. The light glistened off the deadly object as Sora spoke, "This was my father's. It was handed down from his father."

Teyla reaches down to pull out her own knife as she realized that this fight would happen. "If you want to fight this way Sora… I will win." While Teyla had never seen Sora fight, she knew that the hatred was clouding her judgment, as smoke would cloud her eyes. In that type of situation, Teyla knew she had the upper hand. She remembered the fight she had with Halling. Even though she was a better fighter, he beat her in a minimal amount of time because she was fighting with her heart and not her head. Teyla knew that she would have to keep Sora busy until she could get through her clouded emotions, as Halling had down for her. "You will have avenged no one." Teyla knew that this would enrage Sora, and hoped to get her passed the fighting stage and into the emotional breakdown stage as was bound to happen sooner or later.

"We'll see," Sora got into a fighting stance, and quickly lunged at Teyla. The twosome parried the dodged each other. If anyone was watching the fight it almost looked as if the two were lock in a deadly, yet graceful dance. The dance continued, and Sora drew first blood as her knife grazed Teyla's arm as she tried to dodge the blow intended for her stomach.

The fight continued, and the graceful dance started to take on a more frenzied pace. If Major Sheppard would have been around to watch he would have commented that the cat fight would only be complete with a little more hair pulling and a pool of mud. The knives became a side weapon, as their fists and legs started to try to deal painful blows to the other.

The fight started to wind down as Teyla gets a hold of Sora and pushes her against the wall. Somewhere in the shuffle Teyla managed to procure Sora's knife, and she places it against her components throat to get her to hold still. Teyla could see that Sora was getting tired, and Teyla wanted this to end. But she knew the ending had to be Sora's choice, or she would never start to get over the hatred she felt for her. "This is not what your father would have wanted. Our people were destined to be allies"

Teyla's radio came to life as Major Sheppard sounding a bit desperate said, "Teyla and Beckett fall back to the control room." Teyla knew that their time was almost up, and if she was to try to save herself and Dr. Beckett she must go now.

"This…Must…End…Now." Teyla said enunciating each word, hoping that they got through the emotional fog in Sora's mind.

"Then end it," Sora said while moving her neck in such a way that Teyla could deliver the death blow more efficiently. Teyla would not give her the satisfaction of killing her. She had already seen too much death, and Teyla did not want another one to personally be on her conscience. Teyla decided that she would end it, but not in the way the Sora thought. She stepped away from Sora, dropped the weapon and hurried over to Carson.

Even though the force holding her against the wall was no longer there, Sora could not bring herself to move as she thought about what had just happened. Teyla, who Sora blamed for killing her father, did not kill his daughter when given the chance. She thought back on the times when she had met Teyla growing up. Sora remembered once telling her father that she saw Teyla as her older sister. They would keep each other company as they ran through the village tormenting the elders. Sora cracked a smile as she was brought back to the present by the sounds of a nearby struggle. When Sora looked toward the sound, she saw Teyla trying to drag a still unconscious doctor toward the control room. Sora hurried to catch up and as she neared the twosome she saw Teyla tense, as she wondered if she would have to protect the doctor. Sora held out her hands to show Teyla that she had no weapons, and went to the doctors other side. They each grabbed an arm and placed it over their shoulders and then walked together toward the gate room. Teyla and Sora both realized that there would be many hurdles ahead of them, but this current time of trying to kill the other was over. Granted Sora mused; if she did she Teyla like a sister, then another fight to the death might be probable in the future.


	7. part7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 7**

Kolya finished talking to Sora on the radio and strode angrily toward his new second-in-command. As he was walking toward Laden he thought about the many soldiers this trip had cost him and his people, and Sora was now one of the casualties. According to the Genii ways, Sora was now seen as dead to the community as she disobeyed orders; for her own sake, Kolya hoped that he never saw her again. He hated losing a soldier and he blamed the Atlantians for all the upheaval they had caused the Genii people. As he thought about the deaths, he looked up and noticed the captives talking; however, he was not close enough to hear what they were discussing.

If Kolya could have heard the conversation, he would have heard Elizabeth inform Dr. McKay that he must stall for more time as the Major was still in the unprotected parts of the city. But as Kolya was clueless to the ruminations of the leader of Atlantis, he was not aware of the deception that played out between the two doctors when he bellowed to Rodney to activate the shield.

Rodney's mind flew as he tried to come up with a way to stall. "It's done. Dr. Weir I need to enter your codes now."

"Yes of course. 7 9 4 2 1," Elizabeth stated trusting that Rodney had something up his sleeve in the pursuit of saving the city and its current inhabitant.

"Yes?" Rodney asked hoping to get the last few numbers needed so that he could place the shield up to protect himself… and the city of course.

Dr. Weir said the other numbers clearly, "0 3 2 4 5."

_Well she was no help,_ Rodney thought once he keyed all the numbers that were needed. Dr. McKay mused that his current thought hit him like a bolt of lightening; _that is so not the right imagery to be having right now, as it just might come true, _he wryly joked. "And the second sequence?"

Elizabeth glanced at Rodney as though he had sprouted a second head before the realization hit of what he was trying to accomplish. Feeling like she was playing the lottery, she randomly picked some numbers. However that plan did not take up nearly as much time as they needed to be sure that Major Sheppard was safely in the control room vicinity, and soon enough Kolya barked for the shield to be raised.

"I'm almost finished," Rodney said, trying to grasp at any excuse to procrastinate longer.

Laden spoke up from his console, "A massive wave is approaching from the west. Without the shields…" He left the rest up for the group to ponder over, as they all knew what the lack of shields would mean to them and the city.

"McKay!" Kolya shouted out in the hope of pushing Rodney into either bringing the shield on line, or to inform them if it would not work.

Rodney enlightened those around him that lightening was starting to strike the northern pier, and therefore he was going to turn the shield on. But when he said, "Now!" the group waiting for the safety of shield, but it never came. The others in the control room watched as he tried a few more times to get the shield on line, with no effect.

Despite the fact that Rodney looked like he was getting frustrated as his lack of progress, he was actually still trying to stall for time so that the John could get to safety. If Elizabeth would have looked closely at his movements, she would have noticed that Rodney was not even pushing the correct control that was needed to finalize the process to bring up the shield. Rodney thought that even if she was watching, she probably wouldn't know that he was pushing the wrong button; therefore, he felt safe in the knowledge that the Genii would not know either.

Kolya purposefully stomped over to Dr. McKay while demanding that the scientist explain what was going on.

"Look I told you this was a long shot from the beginning," Rodney stated while locking his gaze with Kolya's.

The next words out of Kolya's mouth were again directed at Dr. McKay, "You said this would work."

Rodney's acerbic wit responded before his sense of self-preservation could inform him to shut up as he responded, "I don't know if you noticed or not but I'm an extremely arrogant man who tends to think all of his plans will work." His voice of self-preservation yelled caution just a bit too late, and by the time that Rodney heard it he also saw a fist flying at him.

As the punch landed, Rodney heard Kolya say, "Idiot." Rodney mused that the voice in the back of his head was saying the same thing but with a bit less hatred.

Dr. Weir seeing the Genii lash out at one of her people could not help but confront him before the fear of him had time to register. "Hey this was a long shot at best. Why else would we evacuate the city? It was always our intention to dial out in case this didn't work." Dr. Weir paused and started to perceive how she could use this problem, to the benefit of the city and her people. While the city might not make it through the storm, she could at least guarantee to get back to her people and help them though this time of loss. If she could just get the Genii out of the city, then she and the rest in Atlantis could gate to Manara to inform the others what was going on, and the path that now lay before them. "Within minutes Atlantis will fail. You can leave and survive or you can go down with the city. You choose." She paused to let the realization of the city's emanate downfall sink into Kolya's head before she continued on this train of verbal assault. "Are you going to sacrifice the lives of all your men on the off chance that this city won't be completely destroyed?"

Dr. Weir could see Kolya ponder the situation for only a few moments before she heard him command his men to open the stargate and start the evacuation procedures. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief as she internally danced a victory dance over the fact that they were leaving, and that she could then get to her people. "You're making the right decision," she said.

"You're coming with us. You'll both serve the Genii as payment for what you've done." Kolya stated before he started down the center stairs toward the stargate.

Elizabeth heard Rodney say something to Kolya as they were both grabbed by a Genii soldier, but all she could think about was how this was the second time that Kolya had twisted her words around to hurt her in the long run. Thinking of the first time he hurt her, Elizabeth knew what would happen once she was off world. She started to drag her feet and struggle against the man holding her in the hope that she could get away from the pain that would come if Kolya got a hold of her in his own territory.

* * *

Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford were waiting for Teyla and Dr. Beckett to join them so that they could take out the remaining Genii in the city. John worried over the fact that neither Teyla or Carson had responded to his communications, but he knew that he had to save the city and the two captives before he could retrace his steps to determine what had happened to the others. Without the other two comrades, John ran various plans through his head to determine how to take back the control room; however all of his plans were destroyed once he saw Drs. Weir and McKay grabbed by two Genii and dragged toward the stargate.

Major Sheppard spoke to his Lieutenant, "Change of plan, you get McKay." They both rushed into the control room and started firing at any of the Genii that they could. Out of the corner of his eye, Major Sheppard saw that McKay was running for cover away from him Genii captor. However his eyes were glued on the situation in front of him. Commander Kolya had grabbed Elizabeth and was using her as a personal shield as he backed up toward the stargate and freedom. "You're not going anywhere. I will shoot you if you don't let her go."

"And risk hurting Dr. Weir?" Kolya said to the Major and then whispered something in Elizabeth's ear.

With the way Dr. Weir was struggling again Kolya, John had a clear shot of the Commander's right shoulder. "I'm not aiming at her," he said as he fired his weapon. He watched as Kolya dropped Elizabeth and fell backwards thorough the gate. As he rushed towards he fallen leader, he commanded Aiden to look for Teyla and Beckett and to make sure that all of the Genii were out of the city.

* * *

The fear of being a prisoner of the Genii was slightly pushed to the side when Elizabeth's curiosity wanted to know where the shooting was coming from. She saw Major Sheppard and Lt. Ford firing at the Genii. She also saw Rodney running for cover once he was released. The relief that came from what she saw was short lived once she felt Kolya grab her from behind and start to drag her toward the stargate.

Elizabeth saw John aim at Kolya and heard them talking to each other, but her mind was buzzing against the thought that once she was on the Genii home world that there was no coming back. This realization was brought to the forefront when she heard Kolya whisper in her ear that while John wouldn't hurt her… he would. Dr. Weir's mind ran thorough all the reasons why she could not let him take her: her safety and sanity, but first and foremost the safety of her people was at stake.

Dr. Weir decided to give Kolya what he thought he already created as she thought _playing simpering female take twenty._ While she was unsure of what number she was up to, she knew that he would not get her so easily. Elizabeth went limp as though in fear of the person holding onto her as a human shield.

Kolya felt Elizabeth go weak in his arms, and he triumphed over the power he held over her. However that triumph was shattered once he realized that the dead weigh he was pulling was slowing his time to the gate. He also realized that as she sunk lower in his arms that he was not totally shielded from the Major in front on him. This realization came at the same time he heard the weapon in the Major's hands fire. He felt the pain in his shoulder, and as he fell through the event horizon of the stargate without Elizabeth he promised himself that he would get revenge.

Elizabeth heard the gun in front of her fire, and felt the air by her right cheek warm up as the bullet soared past her. She heard the impact of the bullet as it hit the muscle in his shoulder, and even heard the telltale crack when the bullet impacted bone on the way through his body. She felt the weight behind her leave, and she staggered to fall forward rather than be pulled backwards with the falling weight of the man who a moment ago was holding her in a death grip. She fell on the ground the same time she heard the sound of a person going through the event horizon of the wormhole. The comprehension of what might have happened to her slammed into her with the same force that the waves outside were bound to hit the city with. Elizabeth struggled to stand up on her shaking feet, or was that her whole body shaking, as Major Sheppard came over to her.

"Sorry about that. I had to ermm… are you okay?" John said the last part quietly so that she was the only one to hear it.

Elizabeth responded, "No," just as quietly, not because she did not want others to hear her, but because she was having trouble forming the words as the adrenaline rushed away from her and the events of the day tried to grasp her and pull her under them and suffocate her.

Sheppard noticed that Dr. Weir was going to go into shock as the danger from the day was wearing off. He knew that her response was natural and so he stated, "You will be. Come on." He grabbed her hand to make sure that she was okay walking, and the two of them rushed up the steps to the control console that Rodney was working at.

Once they were confronted with the problem of the city being hit with the storm again, John marveled at the fact that Dr. Weir was able to climb out of her thoughts and focus once again on helping her people. However he knew that her pushing the thoughts away would probably make dealing with them worst; they would try to bury her even more later if she pushed them away now. But like any good military leader, Major Sheppard knew that the people came first, and then the fall out could happen. John's thoughts were squashed as he heard Aiden and Rodney talking.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Aiden questioned as he heard Dr. McKay hurried typing.

Rodney replied in his patented smart-aleck tone, "I thought I'd activate the shield and save the day, you got something else in mind?"

Aiden could not believe that Rodney was going to turn on the shield when two of their friends and co-workers were still out in the city, "Teyla and Beckett are still out there." He hoped that Rodney just didn't realize this fact in the confusion of all that had happened throughout the day.

"Tracking system is down. There's a tsunami headed towards the city. In two and a half minutes they're dead," Rodney replied to Aiden.

John could not believe what he was hearing and he replied the smarted answer for the problem at hand, "Then give them two minutes."

The next two minutes were hell for those in the control room. Most of the problem came from fearing that their comrades would not make it to the control room in the allotted time; however, the other problem with the wait came from Dr. McKay. Rodney would not stop tapping his fingers along the keyboard as if to solidify in his mind the correct sequence of keys to push for the shield to come on line. But for those around him it was torture.

Aiden stood the tapping for as long as he could, but after a minute and a half he barked at Rodney, "shut up."

"I'm not talking," Rodney snapped back.

"You are now," Aiden replied snidely.

Rodney was about to open his mouth again to reason with Aiden when Elizabeth spoke up, "Enough."

The foursome did not think that anything could be worse than Rodney's tapping; however the silence started to strangle those in the room until Rodney spoke up, "There's no more time. Either we lose them or the city."

Elizabeth did not want to have to order the deaths of two of her people, but she knew it was her position to let Rodney go ahead with the key strokes that would kill anyone not within the safety of the control room. She always hated the saying that 'the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many'. She was always one that wanted to save and protect everybody. Dr. Weir started to open her mouth to give Rodney the command he needed when she saw Teyla and Sora enter the control room with Beckett being held up between the two of them. Elizabeth quickly shut her mouth to breathe a quick thank you to who ever was listening, and then stated, "Rodney Go!"

The people in the control room saw a huge wave heading toward the city, and they all wondered if the shield was going to work or not. Elizabeth spoke the question that everyone was thinking of, "What's happening?"

"It's working. It just needs to build up enough power for the shield generator to activate," Rodney replied.

Once the wave was almost on top of the city, Rodney activated the shield. The group watched as the wave hit the shield and passed over it forming an interesting water show as a dome of water ran over the city. To Elizabeth it looked like they were in the inside of a water fountain that sprayed water up and fell in the shape of a circle. "Nice work Rodney," she said as the awareness that the city was safe from both the Genii and the storm put a smile on her face.

"Did you ever doubt me?" Rodney questioned.

"Yes, several times." While it was the truth, Elizabeth could not wait for the reaction she knew would grace Rodney's face.

Seconds after her words hit Rodney, he looked crestfallen, "Oh." His brain pondered over this fact and he quickly came to the realization that she just wasn't as smart as he was, which was why she doubted him for even a split second. This thought helped him quickly forget the disappointment he felt at Dr. Weir's words, and he sat back in his chair and breathed out a sigh of relief that his plan worked; the city was safe all because of him. _Well and a little from the others for getting rid of the Genii, but only a very little, _he thought as he mentally patted himself on the back.

Elizabeth saw the eventual smile grace Rodney's face, and she walked toward the railing to glance at the stargate before the situation of trying to get the city back in shape for her people to come back, and the medical treatment of the few remaining in the city started. She glanced over her people to see Carson still half out of it, Rodney with the wound in his arm, and Teyla and Sora also looked a little worse for wear. Dr. Weir watched as John and Aiden started to check out Carson, and look over the wounded females. Therefore she turned to watch as the waves pummeled the shield, as her mind tried to soothe itself from the disastrous day.


	8. part8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

Note: There are places in this chapter that have numerous uses of Dr. Weir, rather than using her given name. This is because to Sora she is known as that, and as the leader of Atlantis… the same as earlier when Kolya would only use her title until he thought he broke her, and she became less. If this bothers you –sorry—but I'm doing it for a reason :)

Dr. Dredd-- thanks for the help on the medical questions-- and by looking at this chapter.

johliz4ever--thanks for boucning ideas back and forth so that I realize that our stories will not be too similar

**Weathering the Storm Part 8**

Elizabeth's rest and ruminations were short-lived as she heard Rodney ask if anyone had a candy bar, before she heard the sound of cloth rustle against the chair followed by the sound of an object impacting the floor. She turned around toward the sound, and saw Teyla and John rush over to help their fallen teammate. "I have some candy in my office," Elizabeth said before she could think about the fact that she did not want to set foot in there.

"Are you holding out on us and hogging all the candy?" John asked with a slight smile as he started checking Rodney's vitals.

"Many times what is in my desk becomes breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner, so I don't feel too guilty about 'hogging' the candy as you put it." Elizabeth teased back, while mentally going over how she could put off going into her office. She thought of telling Teyla were the treats were, but as the members of SA1 were trained to deal with Rodney's medical problem, she knew that Teyla was needed here more than she was. She quickly thought about the rations that would be stored in the jumpers in case of an emergency flight, but realized that it would be quicker for her to get what was in her office. Time was of the essence with Rodney's hypoglycemic shock, and so she knew that she would have to face her fears, and her office, before she believed she was ready.

As Elizabeth squared her shoulders to face her office and her memories, she heard John chuckle and say, "It's a good thing that Carson can't hear you or he would be lecturing you about proper diet. Granted I might just tell him later, it will give him an excuse to stay awake and talking."

Elizabeth was grateful for the humor as she stepped into her office. Her eyes riveted to the red spot on the floor beside her desk. The images started attacking her, just as Kolya had attacked her earlier in the day. She saw the silver glint from the knife as in impacted her shoulder. If anyone was looking in at Elizabeth, they would have seen her backup until she backed into the wall on the right of the door. When she collided with the wall, Elizabeth felt the air leave her lungs as she was pushed to the floor by Kolya. Her breath started to come in gasps, as much from the pain in her shoulder as from the hands that were wrapped around her throat. The pain in her shoulder grew in intensity, and pulled her back to the present.

Elizabeth let her right arm hang limp to relieve the muscles that tried to work even though they were injured, and she pushed off the wall with her left hand. She followed the contours of the wall around to the back of the desk as she tried to avoid the main part of the floor. She opened up the bottom desk drawer and grabbed two chocolate bars before she quickly bolted out of the room, not bothering to look back in fear of being dragged back into her memories.

Once she hurried over to threesome near the computer station, her leader's mask was back in place; the only thing visibly out of place was the fact that she would not move her right arm. Dr. Weir handed the chocolate over to Teyla, as she was closest to Rodney. Teyla took the offered candy, and started to tear into the wrapper. Dr. Weir noticed that Rodney was still conscious, however he was very uncoordinated. Teyla did not even try to get Rodney to take the chocolate, but broke off small pieces and placed them in his mouth. Elizabeth watched the process and wondered how many time on a mission Teyla and the others had needed to put their knowledge of hypoglycemic shock procedures into practice.

Elizabeth was staring so intently, that she did not realize that Major Sheppard was watching her. He noticed that she handed Teyla the candy bar with her left hand. As he continued to observe her, he noticed that once her left hand was free of the chocolate, that she used that hand to cradle her right arm against her chest. As the military leader for the city and he hoped as Elizabeth's friend, John felt that it was his duty to fix the mess that was caused by the Genii incursion. "Are you okay Elizabeth?" he asked hoping that she might give a straight answer.

Elizabeth saw Teyla glance up briefly at her, before she went back to feeding Rodney to get his sugar levels back up to normal. "I'm fine. Just a few ache and pains. Nothing a nice hot shower can't cure," as Dr. Weir spoke she also moved her arm slightly to try to show the Major that it was nothing to be concurred with. The streaks of red hot pain that flared through her arm let her know that the move was a stupid one to make. However outwardly she was able to let the Major she only a slight grimace, rather then the shout of pain that she would have desired at the moment.

Sora spoke up from nearby, and Elizabeth jumped as she did not know the girl was near. "What about…," Sora started to ask about the blood that she had seen earlier soaking through the makeshift bandage that Kolya had constructed.

"…You. I don't know what to do with you yet, we should go talk." Dr. Weir interrupted to keep Sora from asking about her injuries in front of the others. Knowing that the jumper bay was safe from the lightening strikes around the city and that it would have medical supplies and rations, Elizabeth determined that she could get to talk privately while also getting a feel for how the newcomer would act. "Currently you can come help me get some supplies out of the jumper bay, and we'll talk about the future." Elizabeth wanted to get Sora away from her people so that she could swear her to secrecy about the situation at hand.

Dr. Weir started to walk away. She tried to swing her arms a little as she knew the others were watching her retreat; however the pain was too intense to keep the movement up. She assumed that Sora would follow her without being asked again, and the sound of following footsteps let her know that she was correct.

Major Sheppard watched his leader walk away, followed closely behind by Sora. John did not like watching Elizabeth go off along with a known enemy. He turned around from his seated position beside Rodney, and grasped the remaining chocolate away from Teyla's hands. "Follow them, and keep her safe," he instructed as he started to break off a bit of the candy. "If they notice you, mention you were retrieving the hunters."

Teyla nodded and efficiently moved to her feet before she hurriedly and quietly followed in Dr. Weir's footsteps.

* * *

Dr. Weir walked into the jumper bay and heard the echo of two sets of footsteps. She walked until she was about twenty feet within the room before she turned to face Sora and the conversation that she had been mentally running through her head. She spoke quietly but firmly, "You do not repeat what happened in my office to anyone. Do you understand?"

Sora was close behind Elizabeth and almost ran into her before she could get her feet to stop her forward momentum. She looked in Dr. Weir's eyes, and knew that there was no room for argument, even if Sora thought she might need added medical attention. "I will keep silent as long as I think it's advantageous."

Sora was talking about her silence being advantageous to Elizabeth's health; however Dr. Weir did not hear it as such. "Oh it will be advantageous to you to stay silent, I promise you that," Dr. Weir did not make promises that she did not think she could keep, but she knew that she would keep that one. Before Sora could talk up and correct Dr. Weir's understanding of her words, Elizabeth changed the subject as she knew that all was said on the previous subject that needed to be. "So what should we do with you? Should we contact the Genii to release you back to them?" Dr. Weir noticed the panicked look on Sora's face when the change of subject became clear in her mind.

With wide eyes, Sora started to plead her case to the leader of Atlantis, "If you send me back I will be killed for my insubordination to my Commander. I would not follow his orders when he commanded that I leave Teyla and return to the control room."

Dr. Weir did not know of the situation that Sora was talking about, but she was appalled at the thought that they would kill their people over something that was so benign. "Okay, then I guess you'll stay here, but you have to promise me that you will not harm anyone here, especially Teyla. Is that clear?" Sora nodded her head that she understood, and once Dr. Weir saw her affirmation, she started walking toward the nearest jumper. Hearing Sora start walking again, she continued her train of thought, "I'm not sure what to do with you? I don't know if it would be safer for you and my people to confine you to a set of quarters, or if you might be able to be some use for the city. What do you think?" Elizabeth would have continued with more suggestions, but her mind started to get cloudy, and she had to concentrate to put one foot in front of the other to continue walking in a straight line to the jumper.

Elizabeth paused in her communication with the person that was following her, as the pain in her shoulder intensified to the point that she could not ignore it anymore. She felt the heat the seemed to eat at the wound, and felt the perspiration as it beaded on her forehead and started to drip down her face. She thought that her blurred vision came from the liquid falling down her face, and the tears that she knew were building up because of the pain. She closed her eyes, and reached up with her left hand in order to wipe away the hindrance to her vision. As she was moving her hand back to her side, she shook her head as if to further get her bearings as she continued to walk forward. As Dr. Weir opened her eyes, she realized that the quick movement of her head did not help the fuzzy feelings that she was starting to have. She did not have much time to berate herself for the movement however, as her vision started to tunnel in, and the blackness took her toward oblivion. She felt the relief from the pain, and did not even start to feel the pit of her stomach fall as she started to drop toward the hard jumper bay floor.

* * *

Sora was about to reply to Dr. Weir when she realized that the person in front of her was struggling to remain walking and upright. She knew that Dr. Weir had been injured, and came to the realization that the events of the day were starting to catch up to her. She watched as the leader of Atlantis closed her eyes and shook her head as if to clear her thought and the hazy vision that Sora knew came with blood lose. Sora walked to the left side of Dr. Weir so that she could help her if the need arose. Out of the corner of her eye, Sora saw the dazed look that was in Dr. Weir's eyes once they opened again. She saw as Atlantis's leader blindly reached out in front of her to try and protect her self from the emanate fall. Sora grabbed for her and helped maneuver her to the floor so that she would not get injured farther. Knowing Major Sheppard from the events of the day, she knew that he would not hesitate to harm her if Dr. Weir came back injured from a fall.

Sora quickly assessed the injuries of the unconscious form in front of her. She knew about the shoulder wound as she had seen the blood on the makeshift bandage earlier; however, Sora knew that she needed determine if the other wounds delivered by her Commander needed medical attention. Sora touched the inside of Dr. Weir's upper tight, and was realized that she did not feel the heat that would signify that she was bleeding. As that just determined that Dr. Weir was not bleeding currently, Sora raised her hand to her nose and sniffed for the tell-tale copper scent that came with blood. Once she determined that the prone figure was not bleeding from that injury, Sora moved her attention to the shoulder wound.

The jacket was carefully pulled away from the shoulder, and Sora maneuvered the left corner of the shirt away from the shoulder, so that she could she the bandage underneath. As she moved the corner down, she felt the warm stickiness on her fingers, and realized that Dr. Weir had either reopened the wound or had not stopped bleeding, Sora hoped for the former as the less blood loss the better. The shirt needed to be moved permanently away from the shoulder, and so Sora was about to try to remove Dr. Weir's jacket when she heard a hurried set of footprints come toward her. She looked up to watch as Teyla approach the downed pair. Sora could tell from the look on her old friend's face, that Teyla was worried about her fallen leader rather than angry at Sora thinking that she might have hurt the doctor. Sora realized with dread that Major Sheppard was not bound to be as lenient once he found out that Dr. Weir collapsed when talking with her.

* * *

Teyla watched the two from a shadow near the jumper bay entrance. The cavernous jumper bay helped amplify and sent any sound in all directions. Therefore she was able to hear the conversation between her old friend and the leader of Atlantis. Her brow wrinkled in confusion as she wandered what it was that Dr. Weir commanded Sora to keep quiet about. Her ponderings were silenced as she heard the sound of footsteps retreating away from her, and she glanced out to find the next closest shadow from which to watch the two. As she was hurrying stealthily to her next hiding place she saw Elizabeth start to collapse, Sora reach out for her, and the subsequent fall from the added weight.

Teyla started to rush over to help, and watched as Sora started her initial assessment of Dr. Weir's injuries. She watched as Sora checked for blood from Dr. Weir. She wondered what wound could be that high on the inside of Elizabeth's thigh, and the horrible conclusion of the situation slammed into Teyla. The communication that had played out between Sora and Dr. Weir now made sense. Teyla paused in her rush to the two and thought about how this might affect Elizabeth in the future. To her people, rape was a worse crime than murder, as it murdered the soul in even the strongest of people. Teyla watched as Sora seemed satisfied that Elizabeth was not bleeding, and therefore did not require medical condition for the brutal treatment she received from Kolya. In Teyla's community, this type of condition was treated by the family members. The thought that Elizabeth did not have any family on which to rely, made Teyla vow to herself that she would help Dr. Weir get thought this and all the outcomes that it might bring.

The past came barreling into Teyla's mind, and she remembered a time when her dear friend Ariena was raped by a member of the village. The man was made mad from the death of his wife and children at the hands of the Wraith during the previous culling. Ariena's family and friends tried to help her through the ordeal, and the subsequent pregnancy in brought about. She watched her friend start to hide within herself as the awareness that she was carrying this unwanted child started to show. Tears started burning at Teyla's eyes, as she thought about the loss of her friend and the innocent child as a pregnant Ariena had wandered away from the village during the next Wraith attack. The family later found a note that mentioned she did not fear her life being sucked away at the hands of the Wraith, as her soul had already been taken from her. Teyla closed her eyes in memory of her friend, and when she opened them, she was back in the present to help her new friend and leader.

Teyla noticed that Sora was trying to get to a wound on the arm that Major Sheppard noticed Elizabeth cradling earlier. She hurried over to the two, not bothering to keep silent any longer, and noticed the bandage soaked with blood that was on Dr. Weir's shoulder. She got to work helping Sora remove the clothes that hindered them in treating the wound.

Sora looked up when Teyla reached her and saw the realization in her eyes of what had happened to Dr. Weir. "I know you were following us, and therefore you heard Dr. Weir's not-to-subtle request to keep her rape silent. Will you follow that request?" Sora asked before she let Teyla start to help her in checking Dr. Weir's shoulder wound.

Teyla nodded, knowing that she could try to get Elizabeth to open up to others in her own time, and knelt next to the pair to help out where she could. With Teyla's help, the jacket was easier to get off. Sora would lift Dr. Weir slightly off the ground, and Teyla would move the jacket out from under her. While they both hated moving the shoulder as they feared they might cause more bleeding, they knew it had to be done. Once the jacket was off, Teyla rushed over to the jumper that the twosome had been headed for, and grabbed out the first aid kit the resided there. She hurried back over to Elizabeth and handed Sora the scissors so that she could cut Dr. Weir's shirt away from the shoulder. Teyla radioed to John that Dr. Weir collapsed; while at the same time she watched as Sora left the remaining shirt in place to protect Elizabeth's modesty.

* * *

John finished giving Rodney the remaining candy bar that he had taken from Teyla, and hoped that Rodney's sugar level was back to a safe range as there was no glucose meter nearby. He was about to go over and check on the doctor's condition when he heard Rodney start to fight against an unseen enemy. John knew that hypoglycemic shock would often make Rodney confused, and so he tried to quite his teammate. "Rodney, it's okay. You're safe now." Rodney did not seem to hear, but clutched at his right forearm and muttered that he would talk. "You don't need to talk Rodney. You're okay." As he said this, he noticed the jagged cut in his sleeve, and the red stain around it. "What did they do to you Rodney?" he asked not expecting a reply from the semi-conscious man in front of him.

John rushed across the control room to get the first aid kit that was hanging on the far wall. As he did so he questioned Beckett and Aiden to make sure that they were okay. Beckett glared at him like that was a stupid question to ask. At least John thought it was a glare. He wasn't positive that Beckett might not have been seeing double from the conk he received to the back of his head.

Aiden replied, "We are doing just fine, sir. We're just relaxing and I'm lapping up the silence for once." When Beckett turned his glare on Aiden, John realized that it was the same look that he received moments ago, and so breathed a sigh of relief that Carson wasn't as dazed as he could have been. Beckett did not try to gripe back to the man, and so John knew that he was not fairing as well as normal either though. He left Aiden to make sure that the doctor did not fall asleep, just in case he might have a concussion. As John was walking away he heard Aiden gentle tell the doc, "I was just kidding. But if you don't stay awake for me, I will fill the silence and it will not be pretty." John shook his head at the antics of his lieutenant even in the face of a disastrous day.

When Major Sheppard got back to Rodney, he noticed that Rodney had stopped rambling and was closer to the verge of being unconscious. John was grateful, as he did not want to hurt Rodney. Even if they did bicker all the time, they were still teammates and friends. Rodney loved to have someone to talk with that could understand and even match his wry sense of humor. As John got the scissors out and went to cut off the jacket and shirt from Rodney's forearm, he heard Rodney start to whimper. Not knowing if it was from the pain, or from the fear of being injured again, John keep whispering to Rodney is a low soothing voice that everything was okay.

Once the shirt was removed from the wound, he noticed the puncture wound that the Genii had brutally delivered to his friend. From the way the mark was, John could tell that it was caused by a knife, and that it was twisted in his arm to cause as much pain as possible. _No wonder Rodney told them the plans to save the city, _John thought. While he was military, and so had been trained to withstand torture, he knew that Rodney had not. He got out the antiseptic wipes and cringed as he started to wipe away the blood from the wound. Rodney tried to jerk away from the pain, and tears started to prickle John's eyes as he realized that he did not prevent his friends from getting hurt while he was out in the city playing commando. Rodney stilled, and therefore John knew that he had passed out, whether from the pain or from shock he did not know, but he was grateful for the ability to finish cleansing the wound without causing farther pain. He grabbed out the bottle of alcohol and poured it liberally into the wound to cleanse out any foreign dirt and debris. He patted the area with a clean gauze pad in order to remove any excess fluid, and was finishing placing a pressure bandage on his arm when he heard his radio crackle to life.

Teyla's voice sounded slightly panicked, "Major, Dr. Weir has collapsed."

John stood up and started to run toward the jumper bay. He noticed Aiden perk up from his position beside Carson, hoping to determine what was going on; however John did not have the time or the inclination to belie Aiden's fears. Aiden knew better than to follow though, as he had to keep Dr. Beckett awake. John heard Teyla saying more through the radio, but as his first thought was to get to Elizabeth, he could not make sense of the words that were bombarding him.

John rushed next to Teyla and saw Sora leaning over Dr. Weir. "What did you do to her?" he bellowed out his frustration and anger on the figure that was knelling in front of him.

Before Sora could speak up to try and defend herself to angered Major, Teyla spoke in her defense, "She did nothing other than prevent her from injuring herself further as she collapsed." She went on to inform him of Elizabeth's visible injuries, "Dr. Weir has a knife wound on her shoulder that is bleeding. I believe she collapse from blood lose and from the stress of the day."

Before she could say more, John was crouched down beside Dr. Weir's left side, "Does she have any other injuries?" As he asked this question, he placed one arm under her neck and the other arm under her legs and started to pick her up off the cold floor.

"No, the shoulder wound is it," Sora spoke up quickly before Teyla could respond. As the jacket was already removed, and the shirt was cut, John did not realize that neither were slit from the knife. Therefore he could not wonder when or why she took the time to change.

Major Sheppard looked over at Teyla to confirm Sora's words as he did not know what to think about her yet. Teyla remembered the conversation that Elizabeth and Sora had, and how Dr. Weir did not want others to know about what happened. Teyla fought her conscious about lying to her friend, but she had to respect Elizabeth's wishes. As it was not medically needed to be known, Teyla nodded her head and confirmed Sora's words to John.

John started to walk out toward the control room with his precious bundle secure in his arms. Without looking back he commanded the two remaining women, "Teyla, bring in the younger hunters. They are probably worried and wondering what is going on. Sora, help Teyla bring in blankets, more medical supplies, and rations." He left them to their tasks, and did not bother to check if they started to follow his orders or not.

Aiden and Carson watched as John carried Elizabeth back into the control room. John noticed that Dr. Beckett tried to get up to come help with the patient, but a dizzy spell and Aiden pulled him back to the floor. "Don't worry Doc," John said loud enough for the other two men to hear him, "I'll fix her up well enough for now." He knew that she was probably going to need surgery later, just as Rodney was. But even if they could get to the infirmary, he would not trust Dr. Beckett with a scalpel in his current situation.

John laid Elizabeth near Rodney, and the scattered first aid supplies. He started to untie the makeshift bandage that was made with tatters from her shirt. Once the bandage was removed, he noticed the depth of the wound and cringed in sympathy at the pain that must have caused her. As he was about to open the bottle of alcohol for the second time in as many minute, he noticed the Athosian hunters trail into the control room. Each were carrying an arm load of supplies, and right behind them came Teyla and Sora. John poured the alcohol on Elizabeth's wound, and was startled when he got a reaction as he thought she was unconscious. He quickly recovered and tried to hold her from hurting herself farther. "It's okay. I'm finished now. I'll be gentler from here on in. I promise." He said near tears, thinking about the pain that he was causing her.

Teyla watched as John tried to hold Elizabeth down to keep her from injuring herself further. She had a feeling that Dr. Weir was not struggling because of the pain in her shoulder, but because of fear. Teyla had seen this type of reaction before from her friend; therefore she rushed over to Elizabeth and started soothing her forehead and whispering softly, "You're okay. He can't hurt you anymore."

John felt sad that Teyla had to let Elizabeth know that he wouldn't hurt her again, but also was grateful to her as he noticed that Elizabeth started to calm down.

* * *

Elizabeth felt the pain flare up in her shoulder and was pinned to the floor by Kolya as he got the upper hand. She struggled against the man holding her to the floor, but he was too strong. She felt the fear from what she knew he was going to do to her. However that added pain did not come. She felt a pressure on her forehead, and felt the soothing touch. She heard the quite voice that whispered comforting words. Kolya was not comforting, therefore it could not be Kolya holding her down, her mind reasoned even in the hazy state she was in.

The voice said that he wouldn't hurt her again, and she started to believe it. Her breathing started to get deeper as she felt herself fading into the void. _I'm safe, _her mind thought before she fell back into the blackness.

* * *

Elizabeth stopped struggling with John and started to breath deeply as if in sleep. He took a deep breath and as gently as possible placed the pressure bandage over the gapping hole. He sat back against the nearest wall and watched as two of his friends lay either unconscious or asleep nearby. While he still felt bad that he could not have prevented the injuries, he felt slightly absolved knowing that he had done all he could to help them in the healing process. 


	9. part9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 9**

With Dr. Weir incapacitated the burden of leadership fell on Major John Sheppard. It was just one more reason that he wished Elizabeth was not lying on the floor of the control room. But for the most part he just hated the fact that she got hurt at all. With the storm still raging outside the city, there was not much to be done besides make sure those injured were treated, and that the non-injured kept themselves that way. John picked himself up off the floor and trudged slowly over to Aiden and Dr. Beckett. This action was two-fold: to help those that he could, and to get his mind off of those that he couldn't.

Once he had determined that Carson was feeling a little bit better, and that Aiden was doing all he could to keep the doctor awake. Major Sheppard walked over to Teyla and the other Athosians in order to determine what he could do to help out. He knew that saying in one place for too long would drive him insane; therefore even the most meaningless tasks would help calm him. And meaningless task they found, he thought wryly as he helped Teyla and the children drag various sleeping equipment down to the gate room floor. As he was walking down the stairs with an armful of pilfered sleeping equipment, a rouge sleeping bag started to wiggle lose of his grip. Luckily John was only a few steps away from the bottom, or he would have been added to the list of those injured. The sleeping back fell from his arm, and as John could not see his feet he did not notice the squishy object until his foot stepped on it. The change in traction caused John to tumble face-forward. The only thing saving him was the other sleeping equipment as it padded his fall; however the other sleeping bags and pillows did nothing to help his bruised pride.

The sound of chuckling, and then full out laughter reached his ears, and he turned to see the traitorous Teyla and a group of giggling children. Teyla hurried over to see if she could help and tried to curtail her bouts of laughter. "Major …_snigger_ …are you okay?" Teyla asked. The tears in her eyes were a dead give away however, and as she offered her hand to help John up, he grabbed her and pulled her down into the array of bedding. This was what they needed, John thought. The laughter would do them all good; he just wished they weren't laughing at him. _Oh well, _he thought, we can't get everything. He let loose, and joined in the laughter.

The commotion brought Lieutenant Ford to the edge of the stairs, and as he looked over the railing he noticed a heap of bedding containing a downed John and Teyla. "Is everything okay down there?" Aiden asked with a questioning voice that betrayed his humor in the situation.

"Everything is fine, Aiden," Teyla shouted upward as she deftly stood up. Rather than offer her hand to help John up, she leaned over him and grabbed the blanket that was under him. As she stood back up she tugged at the blanket; John was flipped over and his face landed in a nearby pillow.

John quickly sat up, and when he noticed Teyla start to turn around to look back at him he was ready for his payback.

Teyla started to turn back to glance at the Major, wanting to see the confused look that she knew would be gracing his face. She did not get a chance to see John at all. The only thing she did see was a pillow flying straight toward her before it slammed into her face.

Aiden who was still watching from above was graced with Sora's presence as she came over to see what was going on. Aiden spoke down to John as he heard Sora's laughter beside him, "Sir, I don't think that was such a good idea."

"Why not?" John said while turning around to glance up at his second-in-command. That turn was his downfall, and he felt an impact to the back of his head. John quickly turned around to see an Athosian ready to fight. However her fighting sticks were replaced with a pillow. "Oh we want to fight do we," John said as he stood up and grabbed the closest pillow he could find. The Athosian teenagers watched in amazement as the two adults started to act as rowdy toddlers.

* * *

Twelve minutes later the three children and the two not-so adults were finished placing the bedding in a reasonable fashion. John was glad that the pillows were not made with feathers as he did not want to have to sweep up the mess that would have resulted from the brutal pillow fight between himself and Teyla. He watched the caring look on Teyla face as she helped the teenagers settle down for a much needed rest. Once the hunters were comfortably lying down, John and Teyla walked back up the stairs, away from the humor, and back toward the horror of the day.

Sora was still standing near the railing when John and Teyla reached the top. They could both see the envious glance that she shown down on the trio, and the fun that the group had earlier. Teyla moved off to join Sora, while Major Sheppard went to join Aiden and the doctor. They were settled back on the far wall and holding a conversation. John could tell from the laughing after they would glance at him that they were talking about him

John settled down next to Aiden and Carson, and after asking how everything was, he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He did not open them until he heard a yelp from Sora, followed by an indignant, "That hurt!"

Teyla and Sora were across the room with the contents of a first-aid kit sprawled between them. He noticed the alcohol bottle in Teyla's hand, and an almost gleeful look from the yelp that she caused. "Well if you would clean and bandage your own wound that would not have happened." Teyla replied back.

"Well if you wouldn't have cut me where I cannot reach to bandage it, then it would have been no problem."

"Well if you would not have started the fight in the first place, we wouldn't be worried about bandages now would we?"

"Well if you…" Sora was at a lost on how to continue as she was still trying to put the blame she felt about her father's death were it belonged, and away from Teyla.

John started to chuckle to himself and turned to the others near him to see if either Aiden or Carson were picturing the scene from Disney's © _The Beauty and the Beast_.

Aiden laughed, "I'm surprised that you've watched a Disney movie. Let alone watched one so many times that you have a whole scene memorized."

"My cousin _made_ me watch it whenever I was around. It was her favorite." John replied.

"She can out fight a grown man who has had military training. That is sad. Very sad, John," Aiden replied. He and the doctor both sniggered at the man in front on them who was starting to turn a perplexing shade of pink.

"She had these huge green eyes and a bottom lip that would start to quiver if you would even think about saying no. I doubt you would have been able to say no either. And beside it was the only way I could get to her to like me."

"She bribed you. That is too funny." Aiden teased.

"It wasn't that. I just had to remind her how the movie ended because she thought…" he mumbled the next few words so that his comrades could not hear him and make fun of him even more.

"What was that?" Dr. Beckett spoke up for the first time throughout this conversation. "He is making the injured party start to wonder if he is having hearing problems as a result of the blow to his head." Carson snidely directed to Aiden.

"I said," he said loud enough so that Sora and Teyla turned their attention toward the three men. He quieted down when he noticed the others staring and continued, "I had to remind her that the beast turned out to be nice at the end." He paused but continued before anyone could ask him why, hoping that the jumbled words would not make scene, "she thoughtIwasthebeast."

"She thought you were the beast," Aiden chuckle got louder. He fought his laughter in order to get the next thought out of his mind and into words. But as the image it brought to mind was so amusing, he could only gasp out his question between breathes "Did she ever try to… do your hair like they did to him when they were getting him ready for dinner?... You know …the one with the curls." John's complexion turning bright red was the only answer that the two men needed, and they started a full out belly laugh.

Dr. Beckett was the first one to stop laughing, as the sound was making the pounding in his skull worse. He thought about the funny scene that the previous image conjured in him head, and chuckled. At the same time he wondered how Aiden knew about that scene. "How did you know about that scene in the movie? Unless you had also watched it."

Aiden stopped laughing, and glared at the doctor. He was starting to regret the fact that Carson was staying lucid and talking again. With the embarrassment that was showing on John's face, he would not have come to the realization if it wasn't for the doctor's question. "Yeah, how did you know about that scene, huh?" John asked. The redness in John's checks seemed to be leaving at the same rate that it was appearing on Aiden's.

The minor bantering continued for the next hour or so, and was brought to a halt when a sliver of sunlight started to peek through the storm clouds. John knew that this was only the calm from the eye of the storm, which would be followed by another intense waiting period before storm finally abated. John stood up and walked over to the computer console that Dr. McKay was lying next to.

He punched in the buttons that were needed to dial the up Manara. Once the connection was made, he radioed over to the MALP that he knew would still be stationed near the gate. It was placed there so that the orders could be relayed to signal if and when it was safe to return to the city; however John had other ideas about how this transmission was to play out. "This is Major Sheppard. Come in."

The static responded back for only a few seconds before the crackle of the radio signaled use on the other end. "This is Lieutenant Winters. What can I do for you Major," a young boyish voice responded.

"I need to speak with Sergeant Bates on a secure channel," John commanded, as he did not want to panic those off world about a situation that they could do nothing about.

This time the pause lasted for a few minutes before the tell-tale voice of the Sergeant came through. "The line is secure. What's the status of the city," he asked hoping that the damage was kept to a minimum.

"The shield came on line, but there is still going to be some damage. But that isn't why I'm contacting you." He took a deep breath as he continued to plan out his next statement, "I need you to organize a party to come back when the storm is over consisting of military, and several of the medical staff. We have some injuries here. We need to get these people help, and we also need to check out the city to determine if it is structurally safe for the rest of the expedition to return or not"

"Request to bring back an injured Athosian with us, sir?" Bates asked.

"How were they injured?" Sheppard asked knowing that Bates would only request to bring an additional person back if their injury was not just superficial.

"He got drunk and fell onto a sharp object. The wound has bled quite a bit. The doctor here thinks that he could use a blood transfusion to be on the safe side." He went on with the story of the ramblings of the drunken injured man. "Granted the mixture of the booze and blood lose went straight to his head. He kept going on about his life being threatened and being forced to open the gate to Atlantis. We checked out the gate though and asked around, and it was determined that the gate was only activated by a group that the Manarian government trades with."

"So that was how they got in here." John stated to those in the control room. He remembered the time when Cowen mentioned that the Genii were once a part of a large federation of planets. At the time he did not think that those other worlds were still in contact with them, but it made sense seeing that the Genii came from Manara and their tracks were covered up. "Shit," he said as he smacked the edge of the control panel. Those around him looked up, but he did not give them his attention as he still needed to let Bates know what was going on. He needed to know that they could not trust the Mararian people as far as they could throw them, and John knew that his anger would help propel them for a very far distance. He pushed the button to connect back to Sergeant Bates, "No, he was telling the truth. Bring him back with you. I'd like to talk to him once he's stable. Most of the injuries here were caused by the infiltration of a Genii attack force." Major Sheppard informed the Sergeant.

"I'm really sorry, sir. Those we talked to did not seem duplicitous. We'll keep a sharp eye out for any odd movements from the government or their 'trading partners'." Bates paused as a sickening realization came to him as he realized why Dr. Weir would not be the one contacting him, "How badly was Dr. Weir injured?"

John was touched at how well those from the expedition knew the actions of their leader. "She has a stab wound to her shoulder. She collapsed earlier from the loss of blood and the exertion from the day's events." Major Sheppard decided to explain the rest of the injuries so that the medical team would know what they were dealing with. "Dr. McKay was also stabbed in him arm, and went into hypoglycemic shock. Dr. Beckett possibly has a concussion, and others have various bumps and bruises." John did not want to go into details yet about their Genii 'guest'.

"I'll let the medical team know what they need to prepare for, and I'll also prep my men. Is there anything else that I need to know, sir?" Bates asked.

"I think that's about it," John said marveling at the fact that the days events were just condensed into a five minute conversation. "I'll radio when the storm is completely over. Major Sheppard out." John clicked off the radio, shut down the gate, and looked out the nearest window. He sneered at the sunshine as he knew what it hid. It reminded him of the people from Manara. While he did coerce them into their help, he did not image for one minute that they would cause the amount of pain and destruction that they did. They were simple farmers for God's sake, but behind that helpful exterior lay a dark and sinister interior; the same with the Genii. The next time Teyla mentioned that she wanted to introduce them to a simple farming community, he would be ready he thought cynically.

It was as if John's thought controlled the weather. His darkening mood, both at the Manarian people and at himself for not seeing their deceit, mirrored the darkening sky. John would have continued to watch the fury that the darkening sky brought with it; however his awareness was brought back to the control room as he tried to distinguish the new sound that he was hearing.

(Sorry—good stopping place)


	10. part10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 10**

The pain in her shoulder was one of the first things that Dr. Weir felt as she started to come to, lying on a hard floor was the second. A jolt of fear coursed through Elizabeth as she remembered what happened to her the last time she was in this similar position; however the fuzziness in her mind kept the memories from grasping her totally and dragging her back into her personal pit of hell. She mentally opened up all of her senses to determine the threat that might still surround her. A faint moaning was heard, and it took only a few moments for Elizabeth to realize that the sound she was hearing was being issued from her own scratchy throat.

The initial fear from lying on the cold hard floor started to fade as Elizabeth took notice of the creature comforts surrounding her. There was a soft squishy object under her head, and a slight heaviness and warmth covered her from her chin to her toes. She heard the sounds of familiar voices around her, and heard the gentle snores of a nearby comrade. Regardless of knowing that she was surrounded by friends, Elizabeth did not want to be lying prone on the floor. Therefore, she worked to open her protesting eyes, and struggled to get into a better position. Whether an upright position was better for her physically or not, she could have cared less.

As Elizabeth struggled to reposition herself with only her left arm and legs, she noticed John and Teyla hurry over to her. _They must have also heard me, damn. _Elizabeth thought to herself.

"You should lie back down and rest, Elizabeth," John said as he squatted down next to her and placed his right hand on Dr. Weir's left shoulder in order to try and push her back to the floor and to prevent her upward motion. "Your shoulder wound was very severe, and you've lost a great deal of blood. I think you should just take it easy until the doctor gets here from Manara."

The few inches that Elizabeth had pushed herself off the floor were diminishing as John tried to get her to lie back down, and the distance that was not minimized by John, was minimized as Elizabeth's left arm went limp with fatigue. When John mentioned her shoulder injury, the fear started to come back. But this time the fear was from what others might know of the atrocities that had happened in her office. She started to fight even harder to sit up.

Teyla watched the fear flicker across Dr. Weir's face, and realized that there was a bigger reason that Elizabeth wanted to sit up other than the fact that the floor was hard and uncomfortable. Therefore despite Major Sheppard's wishes, Teyla went to Dr. Weir's side in order to help her sit up.

As Teyla knelt on the floor and helped pull Elizabeth into an upright position, their eyes met. The sorrow and compassion hidden behind Teyla's eyes clued Dr. Weir into the fact that Teyla knew what had happened to her. Her eye's darted to John's face to see it he also knew. His eyes spoke of kindness and helpfulness toward her, but lacked the hate and anger that she knew would be blazing beneath the surface if he knew.

John quirked his eyebrows at Elizabeth as she was glaring at him in such an odd way; to cover up her glare for being anything other than just looking in his direction, and to prevent him from trying to get her to lay back down, she mentioned to him, "my shoulder should be elevated to prevent more blood lose."

"She's got you there," Dr. Beckett stated chuckling.

Dr. Weir glanced down the wall that she was leaning on, and noticed the jovial faces of Carson and Aiden as they glanced her way. They were also in too good of a mood to know what had happened only earlier in the day. While she was grateful that her secret was still safe for the most part, she also wondered how those around her were clueless to what had happened. She was dirty and ashamed, and noting was as it was earlier; however they still acted as though everything was the same. _How do they not notice the difference in me, if nothing else. 'EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT!' _ she wanted to yell to them… to the world.

Elizabeth felt movement to her left, and heard the soft shifting of clothing as a person came to rest next to her. Dr. Weir started to recoil from the nearness of another person when she felt her hand being grasped in order to keep her stationary. She looked down at her hand and noticed that it was entwined with a small tanned hand. She felt and saw the movement of the other hand grasping her own. Elizabeth looked up to the face of the hand's owner, and noticed Teyla smiling an understanding smile toward her. Dr. Weir let a small smile grace her face in gratitude of the friendship that was staring her in the face, and also for the understanding that Teyla now shouldered with her. _Not everything is different_, Elizabeth started to realized. She still had friends around, and she was still the leader of this expedition. She promised herself that she would not let the horrors of the day change what she was. Her promise was made as her eyes started to droop closed.

* * *

Sleep claimed Dr. Weir. She did not notice as Teyla's hand gently moved her head to rest upon her shoulder. She did not notice the gate activation bringing forth the selected military and medical personnel. She did not wake up as John reached down and gently picked her up for the trip to the infirmary, or the surgery that waited her there. In fact the next time consciousness graced her was twenty one hours later.

Elizabeth again noticed that she was lying down; however this time it was against the softer and warmer infirmary mattress than against the cold, hard floor. She no longer felt the searing pain from her shoulder, and the fuzziness of her thoughts let her know that this was due to some heavy duty painkillers. She thought about snuggling back up into the bed and letting her mind float between dreams and drugged wanderings; this would definitely insure that she would not have to wake up fully and face the truths that she knew would be present in the harshly lit infirmary. However the promise she made early in the day started to nag at the back of her consciousness; the voice kept getting louder, trying to force her to wake up and do what she needed for the people of Atlantis.

'Alright I'm up,' Dr. Weir stated to the nagging sensation, however all that came out of her mouth was a slight moan that informed those around her that she was awake.

Teyla and John were both waiting for Elizabeth to wake up; however their reasoning for doing so were far from the same. Teyla wanted to make sure that there was a friendly face around when she woke up, one who knew what had happened to the doctor and would be able to help where others would not. John said that he wanted to talk to Dr. Weir about what to do with the city and the people still on Manara as he hated the politics that went into running the city. _Give me a gun any day, _he thought over what he was seeing that Elizabeth had to go through on a daily basis. Teyla could tell from the way John jumped up to check on Elizabeth at her slight vocalization was far from just wanting help running the city as he stated. She could see the worry in his eyes, and had heard his ranting for the last few hours about what he would do if he ever saw Kolya again. The anger that burned in his eyes as he threatened the man was nothing compared to what Teyla knew she would be seeing if he knew the truth; however that truth was Elizabeth's, and hers to do with as she pleased. Teyla would just need to let the other women know that she would be there for her; therefore she stepped up behind Major Sheppard to insure that she was also in her leader's line of sight as Elizabeth's eyes started to twitch open.

The hazy feeling from the drugs and the desire to curl up and sleep fought Elizabeth as she tried to get her eyes to open. She finally found the strength to pry them open into slit, but she had to close them quickly as the lighting tried to burn through her cornea. She heard some shifting next to her and a female voice say quietly that the light was blocked. Elizabeth again fought to open her eyes, and found that it was not as difficult to do so this time around. She blinked a few times to get her bearing of where she was, and realized that the light was indeed blocked as Teyla stood in its path. A smile came to Teyla's face as she noticed Dr. Weir staring at her. She had opened her mouth to say something when the man next to her diverted Elizabeth's attention with words of his own.

"So how are you feeling? Do you need some water?" John asked as he picked up the nearby pitcher in order to pour some water into a small glass with a straw sticking out of it. Before Elizabeth fully comprehended the first question, John continued, "Do you want to sit up?" He helped her to sit up, and placed the straw at her lips so that she could take her first thirst quenching sip.

"I'm feeling better," Elizabeth crocked out. She did not look over toward Teyla as she said this, as she was sure that her eyes would betray her. But she really was feeling better physically. The drugs were keeping the pain at bay, and the sling was preventing her from moving her arm in a way that would cause more pain.

The two near Dr. Weir knew that even if she was dying, she would not want to let others know for fear of worrying them. Therefore a silence descended on the group as they did not know what other small talk would be acceptable. For as the sun was starting to peak out of the clouds and brighten up the city, no one wanted to bring up the topic of weather.

"I thought I heard noise in here," a petite female doctor said as she rounded the corner before the trio could find another line of conversation in order to break the silence.

"So doc, how's the patient?" John asked her as she picked up the notes at the end of the bed and studied them.

"Hello, the patient is right here," Dr. Weir grumbled.

"I'd say she going to make a fine recovery," Dr. Copper stated as she tried to hide her smile behind her hand as she reached up to grab her stethoscope.

As the doctor leaned over the bed railing to listen to her heartbeat, Elizabeth asked, "How's Rodney, and Dr. Beckett?"

"Shhh" the doctor stated, and the next few moments of silence seemed to drag on for Elizabeth. Finally the doctor pulled away from her patient and started to fill the leader of Atlantis in on how her people were doing. "Knowing that you would want to be informed of their progress, both doctors asked me to let you know how they were, or you know I would be stating patient confidentiality." Seeing a slight nod from the doctor in front of her, Dr. Copper continued, "Dr. Beckett had a slight concussion. He is being watched for the night. Rodney was stitched up and was given an IV to get his blood sugar levels back to normal. He should be fine in no time; however, he insists that he is catching pneumonia from being out in the cold rain for so long. But other than a few sneezes I think the rain has had no effect. And knowing Dr. McKay as well as any other doctor here," she paused musing over the hypochondriac that graced these walls more often than anyone would desire, she chuckled as she finished her thought "the sneezes are probably allergy related."

The foursome shared a much needed chuckle before the question of the hour came up, "So when can I get out of here?" Dr. Weir asked. She hoped to be able to get back to work as soon as possible so that she could get this city and it's people back to the normal everyday activities.

"I would like to keep you for another 48 hours, however I doubt that will be fair to the medical staff here," Dr. Copper stated. "Rest for the next 24 hours and I'll see what I can do." Before Dr. Weir could start to complain about either length of time, the doctor walked away to check on the other patients in the infirmary.

Dr. Weir watched as the doctor passed from sight, and then she turned her gaze back toward Major Sheppard and asked, "How is the city fairing?"

John started to explain how a few military personnel and engineers were going over the main areas of the city in order to determine the structural stability of those areas so that the people on Manara to come home safely. It was briefly mentioned how the Genii learned to get into the city, and Dr. Weir could see the pained look on Teyla's face when she was reminded that an Athosian was injured and as a result betrayed the people of Atlantis. There was no time to dwell on this point for too long as John went on to ask what Elizabeth thought should be done with Sora. This lead to a heated debate between Teyla and John over whether she should be seen as a prisoner or a victim of circumstances. The two turned from their argument to see what Dr. Weir thought and noticed that her head was starting to tilt toward her shoulder, and her eyes kept trying to close for a much needed rest. The quiet alerted Dr. Weir, and she jerked her head back to its upright position, but the damage was already done. Teyla and John had both noticed that she was tired. Despite her protests to keep talking about the city, they helped her to lie back down.

Thinking that the sole reason Dr. Weir wanted to stay awake was to work, Major Sheppard mentioned that the city would be able to welcome its citizens back no sooner than 24 hours later. While Dr. Weir wanted to see her people home safely, and to get the city back to its original splendor, the main thought on her mind was the hope that she was so tired and drugged that the memories would stay at bay.

* * *

Dr. Weir assumed that luck was on her side as she recalled no dreams what-so-ever when she awoke. She was also doing much better, therefore the doctors decided to let her out in order to watch her people come home. However this stipulation came about only after Elizabeth promised to go to her quarters and rest once everyone was back safely. Therefore Dr. Weir stood on the balcony overlooking the stargate and watched as her people came home. She saw the worried looks on a few faces, as they wondered what damage they were coming home to. However they did not know of most of the damage that took place in their absence. Earlier in the infirmary, a semi-lucid Dr. Weir informed those around that she did not want to add to the worries of those coming back. Therefore the information about the Genii infiltration of the city, and the injuries of the city's remaining few personnel were to be kept at a need to know basic. Dr. Weir was still struggling over what they would tell anyone who wondered why a Genii inhabitant was now in the city for an undetermined length of time. But that would be determined in the future. Currently Elizabeth just wanted to revel in the safety of those coming home.

John observed the leader of Atlantis as she watched the few stragglers come in through the stargate. He noticed that she had a slight grin on her face, and he knew it mirrored his own feelings over the safety of those from Atlantis and the mainland as they returned home safely. He wondered over to Dr. Weir in order to talk to her first as the military leader of Atlantis, and then as a friend. "What do you want to do with her?"

Dr. Weir did not need to ask who John was talking about. He had already made his view on the Genii female clear when he had visited her in the infirmary mere hours ago. "Oh I don't know yet. We'll keep her locked up for the time being." She hoped that this would appease his fear over what Sora might do. "Maybe releasing her to the Genii will help ease tension," she stated. But regardless of easing tension between the Genii and the Atlantians, she knew that she would have trouble if the situation arose. While signing the death warrant of Sora would not hurt as much as her choice earlier in the day about saving Teyla and Carson or the city. Regardless, friend or foe, Elizabeth knew that she would have trouble knowing she was the ultimate cause of anyone's death.

John would have liked a better answer, but he knew that not all situations had a perfect solution. That was one of the reasons that he liked math so much. There was always an answer in math, and a logical one at that. _Well, you do as long as the math doesn't get to complex_, he thought to himself "You're extremely optimistic you know that?" However he did drop the situation, knowing that an answer to everyone's liking would not be solved while standing here.

"You think so?" Elizabeth questioned as she thought about how her optimism of people hurt her throughout the day. Twice she had been optimistic of saving her people from Kolya, and twice he had thrown that optimism in her face and hurt her even more. She started to regret that she was optimistic, as it only seemed to lead to pain. But as she watched the last few groups start to come through the stargate, she realized that her optimism kept her fighting, for herself, her people, and her city. She listened slightly to the conversation that John was having with Rodney, who had walked up when she wasn't paying attention.

John noticed Dr. McKay coming toward him and Elizabeth. He also noticed a crude bandage that Rodney had wrapped around his arm. "What is that for?" John questioned with his eyebrows raised toward the ceiling. "Are you going for sympathy from the female population? Or are you afraid your arm might fall off despite the numerous sutures Dr. Copper placed in your arm?" John chuckled as he mentally made a note of another odd antic from Rodney in which to make fun of him with in the future.

"HaHa," Rodney sarcastically chuckled back at John, as he started to give lame reason. "It started to bleed again, and I thought this would help." He said knowing that John could see through his weak attempt at an excuse.

"You just didn't want to go to the infirmary, in case Nurse Bell noticed you. Afraid of commitment are we?" John asked.

"She does not want commitment, she wants to jump me. And with her build she would probably kill me, or at least injure me. And then what would you all do during the next emergency?" Rodney said as he thought about Nurse Bell. She had a physique that looked like she would have done well as a body builder.

"Well we would all be a little saner, and there is always Dr. Zelenka," John joked back. He noticed the nurse's lustful gaze on Rodney after one of their many post-mission physicals, and had been making fun of Rodney ever since. John wondered if she enjoyed giving Rodney shots even more now as he had brushed off a blatant come on line about a month ago. John smiled his patented smile as Rodney glared at him.

At the talk of injuries, John looked over to glance at Elizabeth. He noticed that she was not wearing the sling that the doctor had given her in order to keep her shoulder immobile, and he asked her about it.

"It's in the conference room," she stated as thoughts about her struggles to re-enter her office in order to place it in there. "I didn't want those returning to worry over what was over and done with. They still haven't learned about the Genii penetrating the city," she cringed at her choice of words, "and I don't want them to if it can be helped." She knew that the military men would need to learn about another possible threat to the city, but the numerous civilians could be spared the detailed.

John let her explanation stand, and the threesome continued to watch the last few people come through the gate. Dr. Weir continued to wonder about whether everything would turn out okay, from the Genii incident, and the storm that ravaged the city and the mainland; however her fears were soon relieved. The minute Dr. Weir knew for sure that Atlantis and its people would be ok was when Rodney joked about food, and Major Sheppard asked how far into advance you could book vacation leave. Elizabeth watched as the rest of her people came home through the Stargate, and marveled at how well they had weathered the storm, both figuratively and literally. However she knew it was going to take a long time to get everything back to the way it was before the hurricane and the Genii.

* * *

AN: So SO sorry about the long time for not writing. Between school, and moving twice this summer, it has been hectic. To make up for this lack of writing, I will give you a few hints: it will be quite awhile before the others learn of what happened to Elizabeth, but it will be interesting when and how they do. Aiden is the first to learn, and then the doctor, you can assume how all you want . John and Rodney find out at the same time—but that will be way WAY in the future. I'm hoping to keep writing this story by interweaving it with the show, and have 20 some pages of notes that I need to expand on all the way through season one—not sure how to fit in this story with season two yet—partially because I haven't seen much of the season so far. Hope you like the story and where I take the characters in order to stay with this story. Thanks. 


	11. part11

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 11**

The first night after the storm and the return of its citizen from Manara was hectic to say the least. As the weather was still not in peak form, and not knowing whether or not any of the homes on the mainland survived the hurricane, Dr. Weir, Teyla, and Halling discussed the idea of the Athosians staying in Atlantis for a week or so. It was decided that as soon as the main systems in Atlantis were back in order, Halling and a few other Athosians would fly over to the mainland to determine the amount of repairs that needed to be made. Once the major repairs were made to the homes on the mainland, and it was determined that it was safe to move back, the majority of the Athosians would return. But until then, Atlantis was going to be alive with the sound of families and children once again.

Halling and Teyla left the conference room talking about how to settle their people in for the night. Elizabeth sat for a few minutes in the quite room before she started to stand up in order to go where she was needed next. Before she was fully standing, Dr. Beckett poked his head into the room and a wry grin came to his face as he stated, "I thought I might find you here. However this does not look like your quarters, and you are definitely not resting." He motioned to the notes sitting in front of her from various departments throughout the city.

"I was just trying to make sure that the repairs were well on their way, and that everyone was given a place to rest for awhile," she said. The excuse sounded as lame to her as it did to the man in front of her.

"All the people picked for this mission are exceptional in what they do. Let them show you. This city will still be here when you wake up." Carson continued before she had a chance to respond, "You need to get some rest too, and according to Dr. Copper you promised you would."

Dr. Weir could tell from his stanch and the way his hands were resting on his hips that she had already lost the argument before one had even started. She threw up her hands in defeats and stated, "I'm going. I'm going."

"Good I didn't even have to resort to plan B," Dr. Beckett chuckled as he relaxed his stanch.

"Which was…" Elizabeth questioned.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Carson grinned as he walked beside Elizabeth. "This way it can still be used for future situations," he chuckled as he knew her mind was working a mile a minute in order to try and figure out how to uncover a plan that he never had in the first place. They walked in silence until they reached her quarters. As Elizabeth keyed open the door, Carson whispered, "Good night."

"Night," Elizabeth whispered back just as quietly. However she feared that there would be nothing good about it.

The door closed behind Elizabeth, and she leaned back against the door in order to determine what she wanted to do first. While she was tired, her mind and body struggled through that feeling in order to take the time to get a shower. She wanted to feel clean from the stench that was Kolya, and what he did to her. She walked toward the bathroom, and as she got closer to the tiny room she noticed her torn clothing still jumbled across the floor.

She hastily picked up the torn clothing, and stumbled toward the nearest trashcan through the tears that were starting to fall down her face. Elizabeth flung the cloths piece by piece into the garage. She placed all of her anger and pain behind the force of her throw as she verbalized her feelings with a hoarse scream. While there were no words to her shout, there was a great deal of feeling jumbled into that shriek. The force of the last object hitting the trash can knocked it over, causing all of the items to topple back out onto the floor. That event seemed to mirror Elizabeth's situation. Every time the situation was about to end, something happened to bring it all back out into the open. She had her emotions under control when she was trying to get the city and its people settled for the night; however the minute she left the noisy, people filled rooms and entered her quiet solitary room, the memories fought the silence.

Without thinking her action through, Elizabeth leaned down with her injured arm in order to place the trash can upright. The pain in her shoulder let her know that her move was not the greatest, and she leaned against the nearest wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor beside the heap of trash. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them, ignoring the pain in her protesting shoulder. She sat like that, rocking back and forth, with tears streaming down her face.

* * *

Halling and Teyla walked away from the conference room deep in discussion about how they were going to settle their people in for this extended stay in the city. As Halling talked, Teyla realized that he seemed to have everything under control. Their people had started to look at Halling as their leader ever since Teyla decided to stay in the city of the Ancients. While Teyla wished that she could do more for her people, she realized that her people did not just include the Athosians anymore. "Halling can you make sure that everyone gets settled in for the night. I need to check up on someone," Teyla worried about how Dr. Weir would fare on her first drug free night since the incident with Kolya.

Halling could tell that Teyla's mind was not solely on the situation that their people currently faced. This was apparent during the meeting with Dr. Weir, as Teyla would often look at the city's leader with a concerned question in her gaze. Halling knew that something happened in the city while he and the others were on Manara. Doran was a friend of his family for a long time, and he came to Halling to get his advice after the few military men from Atlantis wrote off his ramblings as that of a drunken man. He tried to go appeal to the men watching the gate that Doran would not have lied over such a story. While the man had been known to get drunk on occasion, his stories revolved more around his feats of bravery against the Wraith then about people he had never met wanting access to the Ancient city.

Halling wished that his friend was wrong, and that the stories were made up; however, he knew that this was not the case when Sergeant Bates came to collect Doran in order to question him before the initial trip back through the stargate. He also realized that something painful happened to Dr. Weir, and he was glad that she had the support of Teyla in order to help her through whatever she was going through. "Go. I will make sure everything is in order before my head graces a pillow," he stated to Teyla.

"Thank you my friend," she said as they said goodnight with a quick touch of their foreheads. She turned and walked swiftly but gracefully toward Dr. Weir's quarters.

* * *

Elizabeth rocked back and forth as tears and memories threatened to consume her. She did not know how long she sat there; she would have continued to do so except for a hesitant knock on her door which intruded upon her grief. She decided to stay quiet so that the person on the other side of the door would give up this quest, thinking that she was already asleep. However the person was persistent and the knocking continued followed by a friendly voice speaking through the door, "Dr. Weir."

Teyla's voice seemed to trigger the floodgates even more, and the struggle to keep her sobs quiet was shattered.

As Elizabeth was able to hear Teyla through her door, Teyla was also able to hear Dr. Weir's muffled sobs. "Dr. Weir… Elizabeth, its Teyla. Please let me in."

Elizabeth could hear the concern in Teyla's voice, and whether to appease Teyla, to prevent a scene as the Athosian tried to break into the room, or because she wanted a friend, Elizabeth said, "Come in."

As the door opened, Dr. Weir pushed herself away from the wall in order to stand up. Even though Teyla knew what had happened to her, Elizabeth felt that she needed to prove her strength and resolve.

Teyla watched as Elizabeth lifted her hands to her eyes, and forcefully brushed the tears away; however the tell-tale signs of crying were still evident in Elizabeth's blotchy red face, and by the blood shot eyes that were fixed on her. "It's okay to cry," Teyla stated feeling that Elizabeth would only show weakness when given permission; even then it was not guaranteed.

"I don't want to cry anymore," Elizabeth stated, shocked that she had admitted to crying in the first place. Not that her appearance helped hide that fact, she knew. She walked over to the edge of her bed and wearily sat down.

"So what do you want to do," Teyla asked as she walked toward Elizabeth and slowly sat down next to her.

"You mean other than castrate Kolya?" Elizabeth asked with an evil glint in her bloodshot eyes.

Teyla chuckled, "Yes, other than that."

All humor was dropped as Elizabeth replied. "I want a shower. I want to feel clean again," she said finally stating the truth and not hiding behind humor. She looked down at her hands as the realization of feeling dirty came back to her; however she knew it was not something that would be able to be washed down the drain as she hoped. But that did not stop her from wishing to try.

"Then it's time to take a shower," Teyla said a few seconds later as she stood up and wandered over to the dresser. She started to open and close drawers at random until she came up with a complete sleeping outfit and other necessities. She walked back over to Elizabeth, grasped her left hand, and pulled her up. Teyla walked to the bathroom pulling Elizabeth along behind her. Once they reached the door, Teyla handed Liz the clothes and asked, "Do you need anything else? A towel perhaps?"

Elizabeth was too stunned to speak right away. She was used to being the one in charge; therefore having someone helping her out was both terrifying and comforting all at the same time. "No, I'm good," Elizabeth responded when she realized that the silence had drug on for too long, and that Teyla was expecting an answer.

As Elizabeth started to close the bathroom door to separate her from Teyla, she heard Teyla mutter to herself, "That wasn't what I asked, but I will let it stand… For now."

* * *

AN: Hello—I thought I'd get this chap on out, even though it is a shorter one—however the next one might take awhile as I need to write some not so fun scenes—to write flashback as Elizabeth is in the bathroom, I have to actually write out the ten minutes of hell that Kolya put her through—so please hang in there. Therefore the next few chapters will revolve around flashbacks, the friendship between Teyla, and getting the city back to order.

I know many of you read the story --188 hits so far for chap 10 COOL—but only 4 replies :(—thanks to those who reply—and to the others—I really hope you like—but occasional feedback would be nice :) I know—the sad plea for reviews that I promised myself never to make. And I do promise never again—but I didn't think once would hurt. LOL


	12. part12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

WARNING: This chapter deals with the actual rape pretty heavily. It was not an easy piece to write, and it will probably not be an easy piece to read. Please heed this warning to determine if you want to read on.

**Weathering the Storm Part 12**

The door closed behind Elizabeth, and she was grateful and saddened as she left Teyla on the other side. She wanted to be able to grieve and fume on her own time, and in her own way. But at the same time, she was also thankful for the silent support of a fellow co-worker… and dare she hope… friend. However, first things first, getting clean, or as clean as possible in a bath. While Elizabeth liked to relax in a nice, warm bath, she was wishing that she could get under the sharp spray of the shower as she always felt cleaner after a shower than after a bath. She was not in the mood to sit in the dirty water for any length of time; however the doctor warned her to be careful of the bandage on her shoulder and not get it wet. Therefore Elizabeth knew that she would try not to linger in the water, and what filth the water would contain. After all no matter how long she washed, or how hard she scrubbed, she knew that sitting in the dirty water would not help.

Elizabeth turned on the water, and as it started filling up the tub, she started to slowly undress. She carefully removed her shirt and bra, and cringed when it came to pulling her right arm through the material. She looked over at her shoulder and saw the still clean bandage that covered the knife wound that she had received from Kolya. She mused about the bandages that covered other wounds, the mental bandages that she had already placed up so that the scar was hidden from others. However she doubted that those bandages would help with the healing process, as the one on her shoulder was supposed to do.

She finished undressing and looked over herself for any visible signs of her ordeal with Kolya. She noticed the bruise on her neck in the shape of a thumb print. Kolya showed her that he was definitely a warrior and a killing machine; why waste the physical effort in wrapping your hands around someone's throat if you could constrict their blood flow or air flow with just the right pressure at a given spot. It was the perfect move for various reasons: less effort on his part, and less physical damage to the recipient, especially if you wanted them around to play with for a long time.

However that lone bruise was the only visible injury other than the knife wound to show what she went through; the lone bruise was easily explained by the force Kolya exerted on her when trying to drag her through the stargate. The nurse did not ask for any other details, and Elizabeth did not offer any. Dr. Weir briefly thought about telling the nurse the truth; however she did not see the need. Getting a rape kit performed was obsolete out here. Her attacker was on another planet, so she could not press charges to try and prevent him from harming others. She knew that Kolya did not injure her internally to need medical attention as he coerced her into cooperating with his wishes; he made sure of that as he knew that her body's response to his actions would hurt her more than any physical pain that he could cause her. She was still sore, but she knew she could be a lot worse off. Therefore Elizabeth decided to deal with the aftermath of her rape as she saw fit. There was nothing that the doctors could do for her.

Dr. Weir stepped into the water and started to scrub as she thought about Kolya. He seemed to have more fun inflicting emotional wounds than the physical ones. Being a military commander trained in the art of torture, and to Kolya he definitely saw what he did as an art form, he knew how to take advantage of the opponent's weakness. Elizabeth's weakness was shown to him when the fury blazed behind her eyes over the safety of her people. Therefore he knew how to play her, and she had done what he asked. From stripping in her office, to letting him touch her, she did what he asked. The anger at Kolya… and more so herself, started to burn in her soul as she thought about what he put her through.

**FLASHBACK**

Elizabeth might have been injured and captured in her own home, but she wasn't about to give up without a fight. She would fight with all she had in her in order to save herself. As Kolya lowered his hands to the buttons on her pants, Dr. Weir slapped his hands away and grabbed the bloodied knife that he had placed beside him while he tore her shirt into strips. She struggled to stand up as she kept the weapon trained on him.

"Very good," Kolya stated as he gave her a round of applause, "but what do you expect to do now? While you might be the leader of this fair city, you will never be a great leader." Kolya saw the questioning gaze behind Dr. Weir's eyes as he watched her circle around him toward the door. "A good leader must think with the mind of a warrior…always steps ahead of the current moment, and you did not think this through."

"My men are only a few feet from this door, and the second you leave this room you will be captured. Unless you want to kill me," he saw the desire on her face to do just that if she had to. "But then my men will want revenge, and then you will be the cause of Dr. McKay's death."

Kolya watched Dr. Weir's shoulders slump in defeat and her grip on the blade handle slacken. He used this opportunity to walk around Dr. Weir and to wrap one arm around her shoulder while grabbing the knife with the other hand. He internally leaped for joy. He had determined the correct buttons to push in order to get cooperation from this feisty female, and cooperation from these types always was the easiest way to break them. _By the time I am through with her, she will be willing for whatever I do to her, and that will grace me with the most amazing emotions: grief, anger, pleasure, pain, contempt. She will be mine in so many ways, and she will hate herself for that._ He smiled at his thoughts.

While Elizabeth would fight to save herself, she would die if she had to in order to save her people. Kolya had determined this loyalty to her people; however he did not want her to die. No, he wanted her cooperation and willingness, something that she shuddered might be harder to give than her life. She felt Kolya wrap one arm around her shoulders, and noticed the removal of the knife from her limp hand. She felt the hot air on her ear as he started to talk.

"So are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Kolya asked.

Elizabeth doubted that either way would be easy for her, however she nodded.

"I would hope so, else I might have to have Sora bring in Dr. McKay to watch the festivities," he marveled at the rigidity of her body at the idea of an audience. "He would be alive long enough to see the weakness of his leader, and then he would be gutted so that you could watch his slow and painful death, and watch all his faith and trust in you die just like he would eventually." This time she shuddered, and a small sob escaped from her throat. "So I take that as conformation that I have your complete support." He watched her head nod, but he wanted to prolong her grief and to make her verbalize the agreement that would turn out to be her downfall. He whispered into her ear, "I can't hear you."

"Yes," she stated through her teeth quietly as she glanced at the floor, "I'll cooperate."

"Good," he said as he spun her around to face him. He briefly saw her grimace as vertigo hit her from a combination of the blood lose and the quick movement. He watched her until she got her breathing back under control and then lifted up her chin with a single finger, "don't be shy or scared, this is a wonderful act between a man and a woman. I will be gentle, and you WILL enjoy it."

Dr. Weir was astonished at the man in front of her. Many times today he had changed tones so quickly that she was so confused. In any other situation, she might think that he was schizophrenic; however she didn't care what he was, only what he was about to do. He was about to force her into having sex, but he sprouted verbal pleasantries.

"Unbutton your pants," she heard Kolya order her.

She unbuttoned her slacks, and placed her hands back at her side. _He might want me to cooperate, but I'm not going to make this easier on him_, she thought as she squared her shoulders for the confrontation she knew awaited her. She feared what he might do to her, but she was also mentally cheering at this slight victory that she had achieved.

Kolya chuckled. He liked that Dr. Weir had spirit, "nicely played." However like all spirited horses, they must be broken before they could be ridden, "but do not EVER DO IT AGAIN." He backed her up to the nearest wall and placed a thumb on the center of her neck and pushed down. As Elizabeth struggled to take another breath, she heard Kolya bark into his radio, "Sora, bring the sniveling doctor."

Elizabeth did not hear Sora's reply over the sound of the blood rushing past her ears, but Kolya made sure that he was heard, "Promise to behave, and I'll call her off." He lifted his thumb away from Dr. Weir's throat so that she could reply.

Elizabeth coughed and gulped in the sweet air, and when she felt able she crocked out, "I promise."

Kolya smiled at his prey, and then radioed over to Sora to belay his last message and to make sure that he was not disturbed. "Now let's try this again. Take off your pants and underwear… slowly, I like to watch," he grinned as he leaned back on the desk to watch as she fought her humiliation and repulsion in order to save her friends.

While torturing others for some time now, Kolya knew that the easiest way to break the feisty ones was to make them a 'willing' participant in their own torture. This method left far more damaging wounds than forcing himself on them.

His mental wanderings caused him to miss the show. Before he knew it, Dr. Weir stood in front of him only wearing a bra and the makeshift red bandage.

He looked her over, and when he was satisfied with what he saw, he started to remove his own pants. He pushed her onto the floor, spread her leg, and then watched the confusion play across Dr. Weir's face. He did not start to have sex with her, but instead rubbed his thumb in a circular pattern on the inside of her upper thigh. Before she knew it, her body started to respond to his touch as her mind seemed to know what was coming. She was appalled, and Kolya grinned at the disgusted and horrified look that he saw on her face. He watched as a few tears escaped from her eyes. "How do you expect your men to follow you when you can't even get your own body to obey you? It betrays you even now, and when your men realize what a horrible leader you are, so will they." With that thought to keep her off balance, he entered her.

**END FLASHBACK**

Tears were coursing down Elizabeth's face as she remembered all of what happened to her. She missed the drugged haze that had kept the thoughts at bay for the last few days, but she also knew that she needed to be in full form to get the city back in shape. She was glad that the skills she would have to use in the next few days would be signing papers, and keeping her people on track. She did not think that she would be comfortable using her diplomatic skills anytime in the near future.

Kolya's attack caused her to loss part of her trust in her ability at verbal sparring. As a trained diplomat, she always thought that words were sharper and understood more readily than violence. But her words had failed her—her lack of fighting skills failed her—she failed herself—this recollection caused her to get angry. She slapped her fist against the water, and watched as water spilled over the rim of the tub. This was the first bath that did not help her to relax. In fact this bath caused her to feel her blood boil as it coursed through her veins. She wanted to fight something—herself, Kolya, the world—she didn't care. She hurriedly got out of the tub, dried, got dressed, and stormed out into her quarters.

She was surprised that Teyla was still there, as she had never had anyone there for her like Teyla was. Teyla looked up when Elizabeth rushed into the room as though she was being pursued by a demon, which in a sense she was. The two stared at each other for a moment, and when Teyla made no move, other than to tilt her head as she glanced at Elizabeth, Dr. Weir started to pace. Back and forth, back and forth she got to the next wall, and then turned. Her brain was not fully in this room, it was out looking for a way to let off this steam that had seemed to build up in her like that in a compression engine. She knew that she was about to burst, and she felt sorry for anyone who would be in her path when she finally burst. The next thing Elizabeth knew was the confusion as her pacing was stopped by a not so solid wall. Her vision focused back into the room and Dr. Weir noticed the brown eyes that bore into her own. "Why are you here?" Dr. Weir asked the first thing that came to her mind, but she was not sure if she was wondering why Teyla was here in front of her, or here in her room.

"I thought you could use a friend," Teyla stated.

Elizabeth was elated to hear that Teyla thought of her as a friend, however her anger was still struggling to get out, and so the kind words did little to appease the burning she felt in her gut. "Why are you hear?" She asked again. She knew from personal experience with other 'friends' that being a friend could always wait until after a good nights sleep, or after a good chapter in a book, or what else they needed to take care of at that given moment.

"Because I've watched a friend go through a similar nightmare," Teyla paused and took a deep breath knowing that she needed to continue for both of their sakes. "I know how horrible the first few nights were for her as I heard her cries for help in her sleep."

While Elizabeth might not have had the best role models in the friends department growing up, she did feel for all the people that she saw in pain, and the look of pain on Teyla's face was evident. Her anger abated enough for her compassion to slip through, "How is your friend now?" She asked, knowing that Teyla needed to talk about her friend, as much as Elizabeth needed to hear about how the help of friends and community helped her get back on track after her assault.

"She struggled to get back into her normal day-to-day activities, and she was doing well. For awhile that is. She learned about a life changing repercussion," for some reason Teyla did not feel like mentioning her friend's pregnancy to Elizabeth as it could still happen to her.

The anger started to come back to Elizabeth; anger at the men, no animals, responsible for her rape, and that of Teyla's friend. Through the red haze that started to cloud her vision, Elizabeth struggled to watch Teyla as she continued her story.

"She couldn't deal with what had happened to her, and what was to come. She wanted to die…she did die…I couldn't help her." Teyla stated as a tear coursed down her cheek.

Elizabeth could see the grief on Teyla's face, but her anger was struggling to get out, and Teyla was the nearest target. Her mind jumbled together facts and fears in order to come to a sickening conclusion. "Oh I see," Elizabeth started to voice her thoughts, "I'm your chance at redemption." Her voice started to get louder as she verbally assaulted Teyla. "Great another rape victim to try and 'help' get through their terrible ordeal. Another chance for Teyla to not screw up." Through the red haze of anger, Elizabeth noticed the look of sorrow and pain on Teyla's face. That look was better than any cold shower or sparring match at deflating the pent up anger. The hurtful words replayed in Elizabeth's mind, and she was shocked and horrified at them. A sob escaped her, and she placed her hand over her mouth as though to try and prevent the words that had been issued from it only moments before. "I didn't mean that. Really, I didn't mean that." Elizabeth gazed at Teyla as though seeking her forgiveness, but it was more than just that.

Teyla could see that Elizabeth's need to fight her pain had worn off, and with it, her strength to do much of anything had also left her. She knew in the back of her mind that Elizabeth did not mean the words that spilled from her mouth. In fact, Dr. Weir seemed almost more hurt by the words than she herself did. Teyla stood up and walked toward the weary figure in front of her, in order to help her get to her bed before she collapsed.

Elizabeth watched as Teyla stood and walked toward her. As Teyla reached out to touch her, Elizabeth jerked away as she feared what retaliation her words might bring down upon her. She was surprised to hear a calming voice, and hands lightly touching her in order to help guide her toward the bed. She watched as Teyla folded down her covers. Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed at glanced back up into Teyla's eye. "I really didn't mean it," she whispered.

Teyla knew from past experiences that hurtful words went with the territory she now would tread with Elizabeth. She knew that Elizabeth was truly sorry, she could see that from the pained expression that gazed up at her like a hurt child, and Teyla also knew that those words would not be the last, nor would verbal abuse be the only grief that she would have to deal with. But she was not angry with Elizabeth, she was angry at Kolya for doing this to her, she was angry at herself for not getting back to Atlantis on time, but she knew her anger needed to be placed on the back-burner in front of Elizabeth, or she would fell remorse for causing Teyla angst. But she could take her anger out on willing sparing partners, _John will not know what hit him when I see him next_, Teyla thought and a wry grin graced her face. She noticed that Elizabeth was expecting some feedback to her apology, therefore Teyla turned her wry grin into smile and said, "I know, all is fine. Get some sleep, I'll be here to guard your dreams."

Elizabeth was going to tell Teyla that she should go sleep in her own quarters as she would be more comfortable. However two things kept her from completing her thoughts out loud: the desire for Teyla to stay and help her battle her nightmares, and the seductive call of sleep.


	13. part13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 13**

Teyla heard Dr. Weir's breathing slow, signifying sleep. She pulled a chair over next to the head of the bed and worked on finding a comfortable position for the night. The best position she could find was facing Elizabeth with her knees pulled up to her chest. She sat there for awhile watching her friend sleep, but soon the silence started to get to her. The only sound in the room that she heard was breathing, however her thoughts worked on filling the silence. _'Oh I see," Elizabeth started to voice her thoughts, "I'm your chance at redemption." Her voice started to get louder as she verbally assaulted Teyla. "Great another rape victim to try and 'help' get through their terrible ordeal. Another chance for Teyla to not screw up.' _Elizabeth's words hurt more than she let on. In fact they were partially true; she did screw up by not comprehending the facts that were right in front of her at the time.

**FLASHBACK**

The last three months had been hell for Teyla, but more so on her friend, and her friend's family. Ariena was grief stricken over learning that she was with child. That sadness compounded with her emotions over the rape itself. One minute they would be dealing with a sobbing wreck of a person, and the next minute she was lashing out verbally or physically at whoever was nearby.

Today Teyla was walking into Ariena's bedroom in order to inform her that she would not be able to come around in the next couple of days. Never in her life had she appreciated the feeling that the Wraith were on their way. While she worried for her people, she was glad to have an excuse for a few days away from the misery that surrounded this room, and her bedridden friend. "Ariena," Teyla stated as she grasped her friend's hand. "The Wraith are coming," Teyla thought she saw a flash of fear behind Ariena's eyes, but whatever Teyla thought she saw was gone momentarily. "I need to go monitor the evacuation of our people into the caves, but I will be back to get you personally. I'll see you in a couple of days," Teyla squeezed her hand as she stood up. There was no response from Ariena…Teyla had stopped expecting any.

**END FLASHBACK**

A few days later when Teyla went back for her friend, all she found was a note. Teyla realized that the flash of fear behind her friend's eyes was actually gratitude. Ariena had determined at that moment that she finally had found a way to escape her pain. It was right in front of Teyla, but she had missed it. She put her people above her friend. And while at times she knew it was the sign of a good leader, she also knew that there were times when the burden of leadership needed to be placed on another's shoulders so that you could help out one. As she wiped the tears away, she vowed that she would not make the same mistake twice.

Sleep finally came to Teyla; however she was shortly woken up by the sounds of struggling. As she came to, Teyla noticed that Elizabeth was tangled in her sheets and trying to get out. She moved over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. She reached out a hand to brush some sweat away from Elizabeth's forehead. "Shhh… It's okay… your safe here," she calmly whispered soothing nonsense as she worked on untangling her friend. Elizabeth quieted down and was soon sleeping peacefully once again.

Teyla stayed where she was for a few minutes glancing down at her friend, "I promise you, I will not let you down if you need me." She moved back over to her chair and the next time she woke up it was to the sunlight streaming in the room, and Elizabeth standing over her dressed and ready for the day.

"I didn't want to wake you. I thought you might need the sleep. Although it does not look like you had the most comfortable place to sleep," Elizabeth stated with an apologetic look.

"Trust me, I have had worse," Teyla chuckled as she stood and stretched.

"I need to go see how the work for repairing the city is going. If you want to clean up you know where the bathroom is," Elizabeth stated uncomfortably as she did not know how to be the gracious host in her own room. She was not used to being placed in this type of situation.

Teyla smiled at Elizabeth's nervousness, "No I should go get changed myself, and check up on how Halling and the others are fairing."

The two of them started toward the door. As Elizabeth was about to key the door open, she paused and looked at Teyla, "About what I said yesterday… I didn't mean it. I truly am sorry."

Teyla gently touched her left arm, "I know."

Elizabeth could see from the look in Teyla's eyes that she was being truthful; they smiled at each other as the door was opened. Then they both went their separate ways.

* * *

As Teyla was wandering the halls of Atlantis for some sign of her friend Halling, her mind started to wander away on its own accord. Her thoughts jumped from her confrontation yesterday with Dr. Weir, to her hatred for the man that wounded Elizabeth on so many levels. At least this situation was easier to understand emotionally than the ordeal with Ariena.

**FLASHBACK **

Teyla was getting ready for bed. The evening had descended on the village for quite some time; however the trade negotiations with their new friends the Brekna went longer than expected. Her head had just grazed the pillow as someone pounded on her door.

"I'm coming," Teyla stated as she jumped out of bed and hurried toward the door that was still shaking with the force of the pounding. She opened the door to see the haggard features on Jarin's face; Teyla knew that something was wrong with his daughter, and her best friend, for him to come to her in this state.

"Please come quickly," he commanded and started to rush back towards his home without waiting for a reply, or to give more information to the bewildered Teyla. Granted what she had heard and seen was more than enough to send her scurrying after Ariena's father without even taking the time to put on her slippers.

Teyla rushed into her friend's house to see Ariena huddled up in the corner of the common room. Teyla watched her friend shy away when anyone tried to come near her, saw the bruises on her face, and the tattered rags that earlier today had been a beautiful outfit. While Teyla was grateful that she could try to help Ariena out as a friend, she also knew that she was here as a leader to her people. As Teyla knelt down a few feet in front of Ariena, she wondered if the Brekna would still be willing to trade with her people once she asked for them to hand over the perpetrator that was in their midst. She knew that one bad person in a community did not make the community as a whole evil, but she did need to protect her people from the monster that had hurt her friend.

"Ariena," Teyla whispered gently to her friend to let her know that she was near. "Will you tell me what happened so that we can help you?" The silence hung in the air for a good amount of time, and Teyla was about to give up on getting a response when she heard a muffled, "Why would he do such a thing? Why would he hurt me? What did I do to deserve this?" The sobs that followed the quiet questions almost sent Teyla into tears, but she knew that her emotions would not help out the current situation.

"I don't know why anyone would want to hurt you, but you did nothing wrong. It was his fault for hurting you. You did NOTHING wrong," Teyla reemphasized the words that she knew her friend needed to hear.

Ariena moved her head to glance as Teyla, and Teyla noted the glazed stare that bore into her eyes in order to determine if she spoke the truth or not. "Then why did he do this?" Ariena's voice started to get louder as her anger come forth. "I have always been nice to him, especially after his wife and children died so WHY DID HE DO THIS?" her shouted words drowned out the shocked gasps that issued from all those around her.

Teyla came to the sickening realization that she had come to the wrong conclusion earlier, and she disliked where her current thoughts were taking her. "Who hurt you?" Teyla asked again. While she was pretty sure of her friend's attacker, she needed to be absolutely sure that her thoughts were now on the right track.

"Gorand," the whispered words seemed to reverberate through the small room.

**END FLASHBACK**

Teyla was so caught up in her memories that she did not she the person who was in front of her. She was knocked literally from her thoughts as she collided with Major Sheppard.

"Whoa, what's on your mind to get you this distracted," John asked.

"Nothing…and everything," Teyla cryptically answered.

"Oh-kay, well that explains everything…and nothing" John replied back. "Well if there is anything I can do to help with …everything… you let me know."

John started to walk past Teyla, but he was stopped with a few words, "Actually Major, would you be willing to spar with me. I could use the practice… and a chance to work out some of my thoughts."

Teyla was not one to ask for favors, and when she did it was always something of great importance. Therefore John could not help but replying as a friend, "Sure, I'll meet you in 10 minutes."

"Thank you," she replied as she walked away. John could tell that within a few steps her thoughts were back to wandering away from these halls.

* * *

Teyla quickly went to her room to change into her sparring outfit, and to grab her equipment, but these actions failed to keep her thought occupied as she hoped. It was odd to see how quickly she could say she hated Kolya for what he did to Elizabeth, while her thoughts were still conflicted over what to think when she remembered her friend mentioning that her attacker was a comrade and person that Teyla had always looked up to for as long as she could remember. Teyla knew that she hated what Gorand did to Ariena, but could she forget all that she had known about the man over one action. He was not a violent man, but just a grieving widower and father.

Teyla was angry at herself for thinking those thoughts that she knew many in the community also felt. 'He was overcome with his grief, and so he struck out at the world.' But the world only comprised her friend, and her friend did not use the excuse of her attack to go harm someone else. If everyone would act like that then the world would be a dreadful place in which to live.

_So do I really hate Kolya, or just his actions… and do I hate Gorand's actions, or the man. _These thoughts still swirled in Teyla's mind as she joined John.

"All men are swine," Teyla stated as she and John were getting ready to practice their fighting techniques.

"Actually the saying is 'All men are pigs'," John stated with a grin trying to lighten the mood. He looked up to see the rage on Teyla's face, _nope, that didn't help_, he thought. In fact she seemed more upset now then when she came to him asking for a sparring partner. He could see that she needed to vent some feelings, but now as they got closer to fighting, John wandered about why he said yes, and also how much pain this fight was going to cause him.

The sparring began, however Teyla started to fight automatically as her mind again started to wander away from the fight.

**FLAHSBACK**

Teyla and Ariena's family heard the name of the attacker, and they did not know what to think. The shocked looks on their faces were visible to all those in the room, and Ariena assumed the worst when she saw them. "You don't believe me," the pitiful sob brought the others back from their musing and into the room. They realized how their shocked expressions were seen by Ariena.

Teyla was the first to regain the use of her voice, and so tried to placate her friend, "No, we do believe you. We were just shocked is all." Out of the corner of her eyes, Teyla could see Ariena's family nodding, but she did not move her gaze from her friends face. "Please believe me, we were just shocked. I'm sorry that our shock hurt you." Teyla noticed that Ariena had lifted her head from her knees and was gazing at her. Therefore Teyla asked the question that she knew would hurt her friend. She asked her to relive her nightmare. "Will you tell me what happened before I go question Gorand?" Teyla noticed the slight shiver her friend gave when her attacker's name was mentioned, but she was relieved at the strength of Ariena as she started to tell her tale.

Once Ariena was finished with her account of the attack, Teyla asked her family to get her cleaned up and bandaged while she went to find Gorand. She searched for over an hour before she finally found Gorand at the grave sites of his wife and children. She noticed the dark stain underneath him before she was close enough to notice that the stain was a puddle of blood. She saw his clenched hand around the dagger that was protruding from his chest. His other fist was clutching an apology letter to his wife and Ariena asking for forgiveness.

Teyla was upset that he was gone. She knew that she would miss the man that she used to go to for advice. But for the most part, she was upset that he was gone so that she could not get an explanation from him about why he did what he did. She wanted to know how he could so something like that. She knew that he was grieving his family, but he was always kind to people even after his lose. She couldn't understand what happened, and she regretted that she would now never know.

**END FLASHBACK**

"What did I do to deserve this." John asked as he continued to parry her attacks, his thoughts chuckled at him, _Your a man… and therefore swine_. Her swings kept getting stronger, and John wondered what was going on. "Teyla?" he questioned as he rolled under her arms before they could hit his chest. However his move cost him the advantage, and Teyla was posed over him with his fighting sticks before he had a chance to recover. As her fighting stick came toward his head, he yelled, "TEYLA!"

He noticed the realization flicker in her eyes about what she was about to do. She quickly shifted her weight to avoid hitting the Major and went down hard from the forward momentum. John reached out his arms in order to try to cushion her fall.

They both lay on the floor panting and covered with sweat. Once John got his breathing and emotions back under control, he rolled over so that he could look at his teammate. "What was that about?" he asked hotly.

"I'm sorry. I let my anger get away with me," Teyla said looking upset at her lack of control.

"Who are you angry at," John asked hoping to help out his teammate in this less painful way, at least physically.

Teyla replied, "I'm upset with Kolya, and what he did to Dr. Weir… and Dr. McKay," she added quickly so that Major Sheppard would not be suspicion as she singled out Elizabeth. Part of her anger was directed toward Gorand, but she could not mention him without John wondering why these memories surfaced now. While she could come up with an excuse, like the anniversary of her friend's death, it was easier on her part to just state Gorand's name to herself.

"First, Kolya was not the only person in the city. So was Sora," John stated as he was still upset with her and having her in the city. "Plus that was one man, how did we all end up being swine," he smiled at her while massaging his neck.

A slight grin lit up Teyla's face followed by a chuckle. "Thank you my friend…for you words, and for the practice."

"No problem, glad to help. But next time can you practice on someone else if you want to kick someone's ass… because it hurts," he replied as Teyla helped his to stand up, and they went to go pick up their equipment.

"I'll think about it, but it is so much fun to kick yours," Teyla smiled as they walked out the door.

* * *

_AN: I'm sorry for the delay in writing—but this chapter came about from some person issues in my life right now- I learned that a professor that I looked up to was arrested for importuning minors on the internet. I have looked up to him as a professor, but also as a person as I see him juggling work and his family well—but now I'm conflicted and have no clue what to think about him anymore—but I still can't say I hate him—just his actions. I wanted to ask him about why he did what he was accused of however by the time I learned of his actions and got the nerve up, he was off campus with the instructions that he couldn't have any contact with students or the school._

_Lately I've also dealt with my niece being hurt by a relative who I did not know—and the minute I heard what he did—I hated him—maybe just the actions—but as that was all I knew of him—I hated him._

_So this chapter took a little more time as I tried to straighten out my thoughts—which I think still came out jumbled. Thanks for still reading this story even though the updates are not always in a timely manner._


	14. part14

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 14**

While Teyla was able to vent her anger, Elizabeth did not get a chance to vent her own emotions. The first order of business came in the form of a man, Doran. "What can I do for you?" Elizabeth looked up from the conference room table and the papers that lay scattered around her. She was shocked to see the Athosian who had given the Genii access to the city.

The man in front of her glanced at his feet as he shuffled them. "I wanted to apologize for my actions," he stated as he finally looked up. "I caused much pain and grief, and for that I am sorry."

Elizabeth saw the bandage on Doran's arm to attest to the fact that he was also a victim in this whole situation. "The blame does not belong to you, but to Kolya… to the Genii. You have nothing to be sorry for," as Elizabeth stated this, she knew the truth behind her words. Kolya twisted people in order to get his way, giving them no choice in the long run but to comply with his wishes. As she let Doran know that he was not at fault, she was also telling it to herself. She just hoped that she would not be too pigheaded to listen to it.

When Doran left the room, Elizabeth felt a bone-searing weariness descend upon her. She looked at her watch and saw that she had only been up for two and a half hours so far today, and that in ten minutes she was supposed to be meeting with Sergeant Bates to hear his account of what happened on the Manaran home world, and how the safety sweeps of the city were progressing. Right after that meeting came a meeting with Dr. Zelenka and a few other scientists in order to determine how the city was faring technologically and also to determine how to start preparing for any other weather anomalies in the future. Only minutes after the aforementioned meeting was scheduled to end, a meeting with the individuals that ran the commissary was planned to determine how long the current food stores could be stretched out to provide for all the people in Atlantis, including the Athosians in case the need arose.

* * *

The meetings seemed to drag on endlessly, but finally Dr. Weir realized that the only sound in the conference room was from her pen scratching notes on the papers in front of her. She glanced at her watch and noticed that it was long after the lunch hour, and the time was creeping closer to the end of a normal work day. But this was not a normal day. Granted no day in Atlantis was a normal day, and therefore the normal nine-to-five job was only a long forgotten memory. Elizabeth glanced at her meeting schedule. She noticed that she had a twenty minute break until her next meeting was planned. She thought about heading to the cafeteria in order to get a bite to eat; however after her bleak meeting about the food shortage she was not in any hurry to help that shortage progress. She knew in the back of her mind that she should eat and that a merger meal would not harm the supplies as much as she feared, but her thoughts today were so jumbled with thoughts of the damage to the city, its people, and herself, that rational thoughts were often ignored.

Dr. Weir massaged the back of her neck. She knew today was going to be a busy and draining day, and so far it was turning out to be even more so than she imagined. She felt that she had gone a few sparring rounds with Teyla. Needing a break, Dr. Weir stood up and walked out of the conference room. She planned to walk out on the nearest balcony in order to get a breath of fresh air; however her trek was brought to a halt when she noticed a child crouched under a nearby computer station.

Jinto was crouched under an unused computer console. He kept his eyes glued on the walkway going to the conference room in order to determine when his father showed up; therefore he was facing away from the conference room door. Jinto failed to see the door behind his open, and Dr. Weir step out of the room. He was used to people walking past so he did not think much when a pair of legs showed up in his peripheral vision, but when the legs did not keep walking past, Jinto looked over. He saw the feet planted on the floor, and with wide eyes he moved his gaze upward.

Elizabeth walked over next to the boy, and stopped. She looked down on Jinto and wondered how long it would take him to notice her standing next to him. A few moments later she saw him look towards her feet, and in that moment she planted a stern expression on her face. That look was almost destroyed as the big eyed, worried look glanced up to her face. Jinto's brow furrowed in question and fear, and Elizabeth could not hold the angry look. She smiled down at the boy and knelt beside him.

"So what are you up to?" Dr. Weir asked.

"Please don't be mad. I just wanted to know what was going on." Jinto looked down and lowered his voice before continuing, "Are we going to lose another home?"

Elizabeth paused momentarily. As leader of the city she had been working on getting everything back up to its normal standards, and worrying about the food shortage that was probably made worse as the storm's damage to the mainland was not yet known. Those many concerns caused her to overlook the most important concerns affecting the inhabitants of the city, and that was their fears. "I'm sorry that I did not address these fears earlier." She stood up and reached out a hand to Jinto, "Will you join me?"

Jinto was shocked when Dr. Weir spoke to him as a person, and not just as a child who was in everybody's way. He grasped her hand, and the two of them walked out onto the balcony.

"So why were you spying from under the computer?" Dr Weir asked as she watched Jinto look around in order to try and see his new homeland.

As Jinto was facing away from her, he did not notice Elizabeth hurrying towards him as he leaned over the railing, or see the frightened look on her face. Once he determined that no matter how far he leaned over the rails he could not see land, he turned back to see Dr. Weir standing right behind him. "I'm…I mean…My friends are worried that they might not have a home to go back to," Jinto stated as he hopped off of the bottom rung of the railing.

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief to see Jinto back on the ground before she asked, "The other kids are worried huh, … and your not the slightest bit concerned?"

"Well it's just that I have to be the brave one. My friends look up to me. I should have answers to their questions like my father does for our people." Jinto looked up at Elizabeth when he said this, and she saw the burden of leadership that he already placed on himself at such a young age.

"Promise me something?" Dr. Weir asked Jinto, as one leader to another.

"What," Jinto wondered if she was going to tell him to stay away from the gate room.

"If you ever have a question or a concern, don't hesitate to ask either myself or your father. Okay?" Elizabeth asked.

Jinto looked confused at her request, "But I was always told that children should be seen and not heard."

Elizabeth smiled down at Jinto, "But if you agreed with that statement, then why were you hiding under the computer desk hoping to not be seen." Again the confused look graced Jinto's face, and Elizabeth could not help but laugh. "From one leader to another, if I can help alleviate your fears…or those of your friends… please come to me and ask your questions. You might be surprised by what you learn."

"Surprised is the right word for it," Jinto muttered under his breath before he looked up and asked, "Why aren't we allowed to go home yet?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath in order to determine how to answer his question without raising more worries and fears. "We need to make sure that it is safe before you and your people can go home." She knew that that sentence did not explain why they might be in Atlantis for awhile so she continued, "but we also need to get the city up and running completely so that we can be protected. With so few workers in such a large city we don't have the ability to work on getting the city safe at the same time as the mainland. Does that make sense?"

Jinto pondered what he was told. He personally knew how expansive the city was as he got lost within its wall in the first few weeks here. He also understood the need for safety and protection in numbers. He was taught the latter during a Wraith attack. His father once told him that is was better to stick together and defend yourself in one place and with many people, then to spread out too thin so that their was no hope for survival. Therefore Jinto looked up at Dr. Weir and nodded his head, "Yes I understand. Thanks for talking with me. Hopefully I can help soothe my friends' fears."

Elizabeth could tell from the look in his eyes that her answers also helped alleviate some of his own fears. "Remember to come talk to me or your dad if you need to. Okay?" she asked as she held her hand out for him to seal the bargain.

"Okay," Jinto stated as they shook hands on that promise.

The twosome started to walk back into the city walls as Halling rushed out, "Dr. Weir I was looking for you." He was about to go on when he noticed his son standing next to the leader of Atlantis. "I see my son got to you first. I hope he was not being a bother."

"No we were just chatting about leadership issues." She gave Jinto a nudge, and he walked over to his father. Jinto looked into his face to determine if his father was mad at him, but Halling just looked down at his son, placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled, "Wex was looking for you in our room. Why don't you go find him and play. Maybe he will let you be Major Sheppard."

Jinto smiled at his father, glanced back at Dr. Weir and after a quick 'thank you' and a smile, he was off to find his friends.

"So what were you two talking about?" Halling questioned the leader of Atlantis with a warm smile.

Elizabeth gave him a small smile before she informed him of his son's fears about losing another home.

A serious look descended on Halling's face, and he walked over to the railing. He looked over at the horizon and noticed that slight color changes being painted across the sky. Usually the changes in nature helped calm him down, and sooth an problems he was facing, but it did not seem to work today. "Many of the Athosians are wondering such a thing, and I have no idea what to tell them." He sucked in a deep breath of fresh air and turned to Dr. Weir. "When will we be able to make a trip over to the mainland in order to determine the damages, and the repairs that will need to be done? I know that you can't spare the time and men to help repair our home right now, but I need to be able to inform my people of what is to come."

Dr. Weir quickly thought on the matter. She remembered seeing the grateful looks on her people's face as they came back through the gate from Manara to what was seen by many as home. She knew that the Athosians needed that feeling of security and understanding possibly even more than the inhabitants of this city. She remembered watching the desponded group that gated in from Athos. They mourned their home, and then needed to know as soon as possible if they would need to start anew once again. Her mind made up, she radioed over to Major Sheppard. "Major Sheppard could you come to the conference room?"

John heard Elizabeth through his earpiece, and he knew that there was only one correct answer to her question. "I'm on my way." He started to stand up from the cafeteria table when he noticed Teyla tilt her head towards a noise that only she could hear.

"I'll be right there," Teyla radioed back as she also stood up.

"Let me guess," John scrunched up his eyes and placed his pointer fingers on his temples, "You heard a voice, and it commanded you to the conference room."

He opened his eyes back up to see Teyla with a perplexed look on her face as she stated, "How astute of you." John laughed as the confused look on her face, and as they walked toward their destination John tried to find words to explain his actions.

* * *

When John and Teyla arrived in the conference room, the table was full of scientists, military personnel, as well as a few Athosians. Teyla noticed a few of her comrades who she knew were the best farmers that the village had. She also noticed Doran in the group. He was a skilled builder, and so Teyla understood why she was needed. The trip to check on the mainland was happening sooner than she thought, and she was glad for this fact as she knew it was important to her people to get back to their everyday lives. She hoped that this trip could help quench the fear that they would need to start over again, but if it should not happen this way, she knew that she would be needed to help her people deal with the upcoming struggles.

Once everyone had taken a seat at the table, Dr. Weir started to address the group. "I was going to put this trip off for a little longer; however it came to my attention that we all need to know what is going on sooner rather than later." With this statement, she glanced toward Halling and smiled. She looked back to the rest of the group and continued, "That is why I asked you all here."

"Major," Dr. Weir gazed at John, "I want you to lead a team to perform a survey of the buildings, and anything else that might be unstable or unsafe before the scientists move in."

Major Sheppard noticed Elizabeth start to move her gaze away from him, so he quickly stated, "Yes ma'am."

Next Dr. Weir started to address Dr. McKay. "Rodney, I want your help with figuring out how to get the settlement dried out. I've seen the effects of many hurricanes so I have a feeling that there will be some flooding and other water damage."

"But… I'm needed here…with repairs and such," Rodney tried to come up with any excuse to stay behind. He was not looking forward to getting out and seeing the damages that the storm had caused. He had already seen the storm firsthand and got soaked to the bone; moreover he was not looking forward to doing anything that might remind him of the incident with the Genii. He looked at Elizabeth and saw that his words were falling on deaf ears, then he glanced down at his sleeve where he knew the bandage still covered the gapping hole in his arm. He grasped at his last hope for staying in the warmth of Atlantis while the others went and trod in the mud, "Plus Dr. Beckett told me to keep my arm clean, and think of the bug and germ infestation that might be running rampant through the settlement as a result of the stagnant water." Rodney looked up hopefully at Elizabeth, but he could tell from her squared chin that he said something wrong.

As Rodney mentioned the problems that could have arisen from any stagnant water, Dr. Weir watched a few of the Athosians glance at the scientist in fear of what ruin was befalling their new home. Teyla on the other hand just shook her head at Rodney's antics and quietly tried to calm the fears of the farmer sitting next to her, as he knew the damage water and now possibly bugs could be doing to all of his hard work. John was trying to hide a smile behind his hand because of the pitiful excuses that his teammate was dreaming up. He knew that he could do a lot better if he felt the need.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, and making sure that Rodney was looking into her eyes she stated, "Thank you for bring this new concern to the forefront. I didn't think of it. Therefore on top of the former job, you also get to determine how to eradicate any bug problem that might exist. As to your injury, ask Dr. Beckett to wrap it up well before we leave tomorrow morning, and then be careful where you step."

John heard the seriousness to Dr. Weir's reprimand of Rodney; however he could not help the chuckle that escaped his throat. He did a fairly good job of covering it up with a cough, but Elizabeth was not fooled. She glanced over at John with a scowling look. _Jeez do not piss her off right now, _John thought.

"Can we continue," Dr. Weir commanded as she looked between Dr. McKay and Major Sheppard. After receiving a nod from each of them, she focused on the two farmers at the table. "I need the two of you to determine if any of the crops will still be harvestable. I would also like you to work with Dr. McKay in order to determine what needs to be done with the land to make it ready for planting once again. If there is anything else that you need to do your work please ask. I don't know much about farming and crops other than they eventually make it to the dinner table. So please don't be hesitant to ask for whatever you might need." They nodded so she moved on to Doran.

"Halling mentioned that you are the best in the community at construction," Elizabeth stated this, but looked to Doran for affirmation.

"Yes ma'am. I like to invent and build. I've tried to make some equipment for improving our farming techniques also, but my friends do not want to try out these new ways." Doran replied. Elizabeth was confused where his train of thought was leading him, as her question only asked for a yes or no.

"Yeah he also likes to boast a lot, but he is a great builder," one of the farmers stated as he chuckled.

When Doran came to talk to her earlier, he briefly mentioned that he was given a strong drink as he boasted about his improvements to farming to the Manaran leader, and soon after the Genii started to question him about access to the city. Elizabeth now understood why Doran rambled on a few moments earlier. She took in his downward gaze, and trembling chin.

"Doran," she waited until he looked up enough to see her as she spoke. "I think we might need your innovations, but first and foremost I want you to determine what damage has been done to the buildings. Once you determine what needs to be repaired with the settlement, you can then work with Dr. McKay and the farmers on how to get the farming improved and back up to par."

The same farmer from before chuckled at stated, "Well Doran, it looks like you might get to use your ideas after all."

"Thank you Dr. Weir," Doran stated as he chocked on his voice. Many emotions competed for the forefront, but all he showed was a grateful smile. He felt like he was given a chance for so much from the person that should be condemning him. He was given a chance to use his skills, and also given a chance at redemption.

Both Teyla and Halling realized some of the unspoken words behind Doran's thanks, but only Elizabeth knew all that was condensed into those four little words. She also swallowed the emotions that tried to come forward, and told Doran that he was welcome before she turned to the group as a whole. "It's getting late. I want you all to get whatever you will need for tomorrow's trip and then get to bed early as tomorrow will be a long and trying day. I will see all of you tomorrow morning at 8am sharp. Dismissed."


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 15**

The meeting broke up, and everyone started going their own way; all except for Dr. Weir. She gathered up all the department briefings around her and sat back in the chair for a long night of 'entertaining' reading material. She lost tract of the number of reports she read, or the amount of time that she spent reading reports on various topics such as the city's structural stability to food shortage.

Dr. Weir tried to start the second paragraph in from of her for the fourth time. She knew that she had read the words numerous times before, but she could not remember what they said. She watched as the black letters started to move around the page and blur into a black blot. She rubbed her eyes and tried again, but her mind was too exhausted to cooperate. She stood up and started walking toward her quarters as her brain had told her that it was time for sleep whether she wanted it or not.

By the time Elizabeth was near her room she was walking like a zombie. Her feet moved, but her brain barely had the energy to send the commands. She opened her door and as she walked toward the bed she kicked off her shoes. Not bothering to change for bed or to pull back the covers on the bed, Elizabeth grabbed the blanket from the back of the nearby chair and wrapped it around her shoulder in a makeshift hug before curling up on top of her comforter. She was so ready for sleep that her head barely touched the pillow before she was out like a light. But while physically and mentally Elizabeth was exhausted, her subconscious was ready to come out and play.

* * *

Elizabeth unbuttoned her slacks, and placed her hands back at her side. _He might want me to cooperate, but I'm not going to make this easier on him_, she thought as she squared her shoulders for the confrontation she knew awaited her. She feared what he might do to her, but she was also mentally cheering at this slight victory that she had achieved.

Kolya chuckled. He liked that Dr. Weir had spirit, "nicely played." However like all spirited horses, they must be broken before they could be ridden, "but do not EVER DO IT AGAIN." He backed her up to the nearest wall and placed a thumb on the center of her neck and pushed down. As Elizabeth struggled to take another breath, she heard Kolya bark into his radio, "Sora, bring the sniveling doctor."

Kolya released Dr. Weir and she collapsed to the floor. She noticed Sora and Rodney start to come around the corner, and a part of her realized that this situation was all wrong. _It didn't happen like this, _she yelled in the back on her mind. She noticed Rodney stop on the walkway with a shocked look on his face as he started to take in the situation at hand. Elizabeth saw the gun prod Rodney forward until he was standing in the doorway. She saw a look of contempt on Sora's face as she tried to find a sympathetic face in the other female. Elizabeth shifted her eyes to glance at Rodney knowing that he would be livid at Kolya and the harm that he was causing; however all she saw in his eyes was loathing for the weak female crumpled on the floor.

"What am I doing here?" Rodney asked as he glanced from his inept leader to the man standing behind her. "The grounding stations need to be fixed if we want to have any chance at survival…"

Rodney tried to go on but Commander Kolya interrupted him and he walked over to Rodney and placed an arm around his shoulder in a gesture of friendship, "I thought I'd let you watch the fun, and see how weak your leader really is."

"You can continue your fun at a later time, but right now there are more important things to do." Dr. McKay verbally shot back.

Elizabeth's breath started to come closer together as she realized what Rodney thought of her. Regardless of the little voice telling her to wake up, all she could hear was the spite in the words being uttered by both men. She heard Kolya mention something about how it wouldn't take long as she mentally tried to pull away from her situation. Her thoughts were not able to escape as she saw Kolya start toward her.

Other than the physical pain, the only other thing Elizabeth could remember about her ordeal was the look of shame on Rodney's face when he would note her looking at him, and the scientific gaze that took in the scene with regret at his leader's weakness.

* * *

Elizabeth bolted up from her prone position gasping for breath. The shame and anger she felt from the dream hit her full force and she jumped from the bed. She quickly tried to hurry towards her bathroom in an attempt to race her stomach contents and in her rush to get to her destination she did not see the shoes that she kicked off only hours before. Elizabeth stumbled over her shoe and started to fall. Unconsciously she tried to cushion her forward momentum with her arms, however too late she realized that the plan was ill-thought out with regards to her shoulder injury. She felt the pain in her shoulder before she finished the full descent to the floor. The pain added to her earlier negative emotions warred inside of her, and she knew that she had lost the fight for the flight to the bathroom. She leaned to her side before she could get sick all over her uniform. The lack of food in her system was the only thing that really helped keep a major mess from her floor as bile and dry heaves were all that her body could produce.

Elizabeth's body finally stopped protesting by raking dry heaves, and now showed its anger in the form of pain and the reawakened emotions. She lacked the drive to pull herself fully off the floor, but the slightly damp spot on the floor helped to motivate Elizabeth to drag herself to the corner made from the bed's position against the wall. She snaked her good arm up onto the bed and pulled down the few coverings that she could reach. She draped the blanket around her shoulders the best she could. Next she grabbed her pillow and maneuvered so that her back was resting against the bed, her left arm was leaning against the wall, and she cushioned her head with the pillow. As she gazed at the gray wall in front of her, she drew her knees toward her chest. In a semblance of a hug, Elizabeth tried to imbue a sense of warmth and compassion into her mind. But just as the blanket was failing to provide adequate heat to her body after the chilling nightmare, the fetal position was doing nothing to bring her thoughts away from the cold and calculating stares of both Kolya and Rodney. The wall started to blur as both tears and sleep fought for control of her vision. And as she did not want to deal with the emotions and thoughts currently in her head, Elizabeth let sleep claim her tired body once more.

Only a few hours after falling asleep for the first time, Elizabeth woke up again with the realization of two things: that she was not going to attempt to get back to sleep, and that going to sleep to escape unwanted memories was like locking yourself in a jail cell with your worse enemy. Luckily her body did not try to send her hurrying to spend her morning learning over the toilet again, but that could be as her stomach was too busy trying to get her attention that it was lacking food to desire losing what it already did not have.

Elizabeth stretched out her legs to the feeling of pins and needle being brushed past her skin and a dull throb in her knee. She glanced at her watch that she neglected to take off the previous night in a way to delay the stabbing pins that would soon be attacking her lower limbs. The clock read 5:23am, not even 3 hours since she dragged herself away from the conference room. Now that that excuse was over with, Elizabeth reached behind herself in order to help support her upwards momentum as she tried to stand up. For the majority of the support, her hands had to actually stop her downward motion as her feet where too numb to hold her up right away. However too quickly the numbness went away and she bit her lip as the blood started to flow back into her legs, and therefore the needles had advanced in their attack.

Elizabeth looked down at herself and noted that she was still wearing her uniform from the previous day. Knowing that the team was leaving in a little over two hours to see the mainland and that it was going to be a dirty job, she decided to wait until she got back to change. Once she could walk on her slightly felt feet, Elizabeth started to walk to the bathroom in order to get herself ready to walk out of her room and possibly be seen by others. After getting herself and the floor cleaned up, Elizabeth faced the door. She tugged on her jacket, squared her shoulders, and opened the door. Dr. Weir stepped out and with purpose in her stride walked toward the conference room in order to get some more paper work completed.

* * *

It was nearing 7:30 in the morning, and the sun was already brightening up the sky. Major John Sheppard wandered around the puddle jumpers itching to get the bucket of bolts in the air. _Actually I wonder if a jumper is made with bolts._ But as the puddle jumpers flew, John couldn't have cared less about what term to call it. He looked at his watch to see that the time had only changed a few minutes since the last time he looked. John dropped his hands to his sides and looked around to see if all the personnel going to the mainland were nearby getting their equipment loaded. He noticed Teyla helping out a few Athosians whose names he could not remember. Next he noticed Dr. McKay loading up a lot of scientific gadgets. John heard Rodney mumbling something under his breath that included the words 'farmer', 'what was she thinking', and 'deadly viruses'.

John wondered where the 'she' was that Rodney referred to. He looked around the room and even within the nearby jumpers to see if he had missed Dr. Weir's entrance. Major Sheppard glanced at his watch again to determine how quickly the mission departure was to take place. While a few moments before John would have loathed the long time until they were to depart; now he wondered at the little time until departure and why the mission leader was not around. Major Sheppard mused that Elizabeth must have dropped by her office to do some last minute preparations and coordinating with the workers staying within that city before she was going to join the departing team in the jumper bay.

As John walked towards Dr. Weir's office he did not see anyone in the office; however he stepped in just to make sure that she might not be picking up an escaped pen from under the desk or something. John pushed the door open and stepped within the office walls. John had often been in this room staring across the desk at Dr. Weir and the wall behind her head as she would delivery a lecture about any number of actions that the Major should not have done. Consequentially John noticed right away that the room was not as he remembered it.

John's normal chair was tipped sideways on the floor. As he bent over to place the chair upright he noticed that the chair being askew was the least of the changes in the room. The trash can by the desk was knocked over, and the disposed papers were scattered around the upturned disposal. John saw a dark stain near were his chair should be placed. The stain looked like an ink blot; however once he got closed he was able to see that the stain was a brownish color as that of dried blood. This vantage point near the floor helped him to see a tiny glint of sliver near the desk. Upon closer inspection, the glint of silver became a silver blade covered with blood.

John was livid and in his angered state he saw red that had nothing to do with the blood either on the floor or on the blade. He knew that Kolya had stabbed Elizabeth, but he did not realize that this attack occurred in her office… her sanctuary. The previous day John had wondered about Dr. Weir's inhabitance of the conference room. At the time he assumed that it was easier for her to stay there as there was little time between meetings; however now he doubted that his assumptions were the only reason for her decision.

Knowing that the room needed cleaned and that Dr. Weir did not want the infiltration of the city to become public knowledge, John radioed in for help. As Lieutenant Ford was going to remain in the city while the rest of his team went to the mainland and as Aiden could be ordered to silence even thought he would not need to be, he became the ideal candidate for this job.

A few minutes later, Aiden walked into Dr. Weir's office. His first thought was that it seemed odd being in the room without Dr. Weir; the second was contemplation on who threw a party in his leader's office and didn't invite him. His brief moment of levity was shattered when John handed the knife over to him.

"I'm sorry to ask you to do something so menial, but Dr. Weir wants this incident to remain discrete. So would you help get her office back in shape so she doesn't have to deal with the clean-up and having to deal with the memories." John knew from the look on Aiden's face that he needn't have bother finishing his request but he couldn't help the babbling flow of words that issued from his mouth.

Aiden replied with a smirk, "Sure no problem. It's better than having to clean the head with a toothbrush." The smirk died on his face as he thought that he would gladly clean all the restrooms in Atlantis with a lone toothbrush if he could have prevented the harm that befell his leader and teammate. He still mentally berated himself for not leaving the mainland initially, he might have been able to do something rather than sitting impotently in the puddle jumper during the storm. He was brought back to the task at hand when a weight settled on his shoulder and gave a slight squeeze.

John watched as the wry grin left Aiden's face and was replaced by a look of intense contemplation. John understood the 'what-if' game that was being played inside his comrade's head, and he decided to bring an end to it before it tried to consume the young lieutenant. He gave Aiden's shoulder a squeeze, and once the young man look up at him John also gave a small smile of thanks. Knowing that nothing more needed to be said, John left the office to continue his search for Dr. Weir as there was now only ten minutes until departure.

* * *

The next logical place to look for the leader of Atlantis was the conference room. As John was about to enter the room he pictured the two possible scenarios behind the closed door: either an empty room, or Dr. Weir poring over papers. The site that greeted him brought a smile to his face, and he had to quickly stop himself from issuing forth a hearty belly laugh. John was able to tone his merriment down to a slight chuckle as he took in the form of his sleeping leader.

Elizabeth had a stack of papers which at one time were in front of her to be read; now the papers were under her bent left arm which was being used as a improvised pillow. Her head was tilted to the right, and her right arm was cradled close to her chest. She was nudged to wakefulness as her mind picked up a faint laugh. She opened her eyes to see the reports, and then she quickly looked up to see who had caught her in a very awkward situation. Elizabeth looked up to see hazel eyes laughing back at her. Waking up fully to view the full person in front of her brought the realization that it was Major Sheppard who caught her napping. She knew that she would never hear the end of it.

Major Sheppard had seen this leader stay up all night in order to make sure that all was well before she would let sleep claim her. Knowing that it was going to take a long time for the city to get back to the way it was before the storm and the Genii incursion John worried about the lack of sleep Dr. Weir might get. Therefore he did not want to joke about her actually getting a little bit of sleep. "We leave for the mainland in 6 minutes," he said while mentally voicing a joke about seeing his leader drooling over important paperwork.

A look of panic shown through Elizabeth's eyes when she heard the time. She glanced at her watch to determine that John was not playing a joke on her and then quickly stood up so that the chair behind her toppled over. She gathered up the papers, pulled the chair upright and started to hurry out of the room. She determined that she would not even take the papers to her office, partially to stay away from her office, to get to the jumper bay as soon as possible, and to have reading material in case she got a chance during the flight to and from the city.

While John did not want to joke too much about the sleeping arrangements of Dr. Weir, he could not stop the parting shot that issued forth from his mouth. "If Carson knew that you didn't get any sleep he would have more than just your shoulder in a sling." John couldn't help but smile as Dr. Weir glared over at him.

Elizabeth glared at the parting comment about her lack of sleep. She knew that she could have mentioned that she did get more sleep; however she realized that she didn't get much sleep and she did not want to go into the issue of how she was still so tired as to fall asleep over reports. Plus she knew that he was right in his assessment of what Dr. Beckett would do. She quickly determined that it was not worth the time and effort that she would have to dedicate to explaining the situation; she glanced at her watch again and realized that she would not have the time to talk if she wanted to. She turned from Major Sheppard and hurried toward the jumper bay with John right behind her.

* * *

Mere minutes before departure was scheduled for the mainland, Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard stepped into the jumper bay. They walked toward the jumper in the center of the room. The lone jumper was going to the mainland. While the jumper would be crowded with 8 people and equipment, it was the smartest move to make as the amount of room for landing was unknown. The other passengers stood near the hatch of the jumper talking about the upcoming mission and the possibilities of the damage to their homes. The group looked up as Elizabeth and John approached.

John could see the anxiousness in the eyes of the Athosians at what they might find, and the look of loathing that Rodney had toward this trip. Elizabeth also saw the look on Rodney's face, but after her nightmares she did not see the loathing as being about the trip but more about his lack of faith in her. She lowered her gaze to the ground and croaked out, "Let's get going." She led the way into the jumper.

As the group started to pile into the jumper, John wrinkled his brow in question at the quick change Dr. Weir's attitude. He started to shake off his inquiry when he caught the look of worry that Teyla sent Dr. Weir's way. Not knowing what the females' actions were about, he promised himself to come to an understanding of the issue as soon as possible.

* * *

AN: next chapter gets into seeing the mainland—I'm having issues knowing first hand how to write about reactions to seeing the damage. While parents live in FL so have dealt with Charlie and the others a few years ago they were lucky so I haven't had to deal with the emotions of the damage. Would anyone be willing to help me understand this point?

Btw—sorry for the very long delay—life gotta 'love' it


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 16**

AN: Thanks for those who reminded me that I did not move the rating up when the flashbacks started. That has been taken care of. I also changed the warning on the story, so if anyone does not want to read this story please don't.

AN2: Also I wanted to point out that the reason I did put in as much detail about the rape was because the physiological effects are going to be delved into deeply. As will be seen slightly in this chapter and in others as Dr. Weir starts to feel that she has no control: over herself, her people, and her emotions.

AN3: Some people have mentioned that Dr. Weir would not just take what was happening without fighting. She did fight, but she is one of those people that would do anything to keep her people from being hurt, and to her if that is keeping them from knowing what happened to her she will including having Rodney be forced to watch.

AN4: Some people have also mentioned that Kolya is off-character, that I'm not keeping in line with the personalities of individuals, and that I should watch seasons 1 and 2. I do own season 1 and so yes I did not know that the actor for Kolya did not see him as tyrannical, but from what I saw from 'The Storm' I did. Also my story is just based up to and including 'The Storm' and 'The Eye'. I will get into some of the other shows as the story progresses. For the knowledge up to them I think I'm doing a good job with who the people are and I will not change it.

AN5: Many people also want to know when John and the rest will find out about the rape. It is going to be quite some time before all of the main team learns about the incident. I know when in the story they will, and I hope you will be patient as I deal with many other aspects of the story until we get to the teams reactions to learning the truth. Also a relationship/close friendship will not start with Sheppard until after this fact (granted the relationship could go either with him or McKay, so if anyone has any preference let me know.)

AN6: Others have wondered why John doesn't know already in a sixth sense, he likes her, kinda way. He is starting to realize that something is going on, but the city being taken over and being stabbed as Elizabeth was, anybody would be emotional and on pins and needles. Also Elizabeth is not pouring her woes out to Sheppard because she still wouldn't know him very well or for very long. I'm assuming about 6-8 months as it was the middle of the first season. While I might make a friend in that time, I would not spill a major problem to them. I see Elizabeth as the same way, especially as she is the leader and would probably try to keep some distance between herself and her 'staff'.

AN7: Please let me know if you want me to keep writing this story. Well, if you want me to post the story, because I know where I want this story to go, and it is an emotional release for me so I will write; however, I won't post here if no one wants me to.

* * *

The jumper rose out of the jumper bay and above the city of the Ancients. Looking down at the marvelous city and out to the pristine calm water, it was hard to fathom the devastation that blanketed the mainland. From the co-pilot's seat, Elizabeth was one of the first to see the damage. Trees that were once towering giants now lay scattered on the ground like a box of dropped toothpicks. Much of the ground could not be seen as the water level had flooded the area. But this water was not the brilliant blues of the ocean. It was muddy brown and was littered with all types of debris from leaves and twigs to pots and pans.

Major Sheppard circled the damaged settlement twice in order to try and find a clear space large enough for the jumper to set down. He finally set down on a hill above the water level. Then fallen trees seemed to act like a natural dam, and the ground here showed little damage. But this one spot of minor damage only seemed to enhance the destruction around it.

The rear hatch was opened by Rodney the minute that the jumper powered down. He mentioned that he needed air as he was getting claustrophobic; however he wasn't much happier when he stepped out as the musty air hit him full force.

The rest of the group numbly followed Rodney out. All had a similar look of grief on their faces: the Athosians as their home was in ruins and the Atlantians as they felt sorrow for their friends.

Halling stepped out of the jumper and turned in a tight circle where he was standing. The damage was worse than he imaged. The forest to the east at one time was dense with foliage. His son and his friends often went there to play games, he and the other men in the village would hunt the animals that lived within the shelter of the trees. However Halling could see that that shelter was not as dense as it once was. Many trees seemed to be leaning on the next in a weary sort of manner, and a few of the taller trees had cut a path through anything that dared to stand in it's descent to the forest floor.

To the northwest Halling could see a large lake that had not been there before the evacuation took place. In fact the 'lake' was centered on top of the newly planted harvest, and some grown crops that were brought here from Athos. He knew that while losing the harvest would hurt his people and the Atlantians from getting a large food supply that they needed, he also knew that many of his friends were going to be hurt more by the lose of the few plants brought over from their homeworld. It would be like losing a piece of their culture, and therefore a piece of themselves.

Straight in front of him, bridging the fields and the forest, Halling could see the wreckage of their homes. Many of the tent-like structures had been ripped out of the ground and were scattered around the settlement. Some tents were still standing in their designated area, however the water level easily spanned a tenth of their height. Various cooking utensils, clothing, and even a few toys that were not gathered up before the quick departure of the mainland could be seen scattered about as well.

Halling did not like the devastation that had befallen his home, but he knew that his people would be able to rise from this new setback. They were still lucky to have met the formidable friends and allies that had delivered him and his people to this place were they did not have to live in as great a fear of the Wraith coming to cull their children and friends. He took a deep breath to center himself on the great task of getting his people back home, and looked around at his companions to see how they were faring.

Teyla looked around in shock at the changes that a few days and a major hurricane had cause to her people's settlement. She noticed much of the loving work that had gone into making this place her people's home was ruined. She glanced at the two farmers next to her and saw the look of lose in their eyes as they gazed toward the flooded fields. She knew that they had worked hard tilling the land, and the whole village was looking forward to the first harvest and the step toward self-sufficiency. Next her eyes came to rest on Doran. He looked miserable, but in the time since he and the others had been back from Manara she had not seen him look much differently. Finally she glanced over at Halling and saw him take a deep breath, he looked towards her and she knew that the time of contemplating the damage and what might have been was over. Now came the time to determine how to fix the problem at hand and to get her people home.

Dr. Weir noted the gaze of all the Athosians were settled on the ransacked settlement. After a few moments, she thought about calling the people to order but she was just here today to help out and see how the damage would affect Atlantis in the long run. She glanced over toward where she was told the fields were. She knew the biggest problem was going to be the food shortage. Her people were already starting to get low on many of the food stuffs that they did have. She shook her head out of the long term worry. She was here now and could help with getting the Athosians home. She pictured Jinto and his questioning gaze about whether they had a home to come back to or not. She vowed that she would do all in her power, and the power of those in Atlantis to get Jinto and all of the Athosians settled back into their new home.

Everyone came to attention when someone cleared their throat. Halling glanced back at those who stared at him. When his eyes glanced on Dr. Weir, he tilted his head slightly to let Dr. Weir know that she could start her briefing before the group broke up to work on their given tasks. Dr. Weir shook her head to let Halling know that he was the leader for this trip. He glanced at Teyla and when she only gave a warm smile in support he stated, "I know it looks awful. But we have struggled through much worse and come through unscathed. We need to know the extent of the damage and while visually it is very telling, we need to know everything in order to get our people home. I want Jinto to run amongst the trees again, and I'm sure you all feel the same about your families."

Halling turned his attention to the farmers in the group, "I would appreciate if you would see how badly the situation is with the harvest. Also see if any of the storage compartments still hold the tilling equipment and seeds as we might have need of them sooner than we thought."

Next he glanced at Doran. "Check on the main settlement and determine which areas can be fixed up quickly. We need to get some of the homes back into place in order to get a group over here to work tirelessly until we can get our people home. Also determine what areas can be saved and what areas cannot be. You go with the Atlantians and Teyla and we will meet back here to go home when the sun first touches the horizon." Halling turned with purpose and strode slightly westward to try and find a stable path to get to the fields. The farmers had to hurry to catch up with him before he disappeared behind the jumper.

"Well I guess that leaves us to go straight. Hey Doran you know the terrain better than any of us so what is the best way to get down to the village." John asked. He watched as Doran veered slightly to the right and started to descend the hill. Teyla followed closely behind her fellow Athosian, and Rodney was close to her heels. "Lady's first," John stated to Elizabeth as he gestured towards the others and after she started on her way, John picked up the rear.

Once the group got halfway to the settlement, the terrain started to slope upwards. The group was chilled and they were knee deep in water for the majority of the time. They trudged along and tried to keep their footing on the slippery ground. John almost let out an audible sigh at seeing a piece of land that rose out of the water. He could not wait to get his legs out of the water if even for a few seconds. Doran started to walk up the semi-steep slope and the rest of the group watch in desperation as Doran's feet started to slip backwards. Much of the muddy hill came down with him making the slope even steeper than before.

John looked around for another way to get up the incline. He could see that about 100 meters to the left the ground did not seem as steep, but he really was hoping to get out of the water for a bit. He moved his glance to his other side and quickly saw the way up. About 15 meters away a downed tree connected the bottom of the hill with the top, and he knew that the branches could be used as footholds or handholds in order to get up. He mentioned this to the group, and after hearing Rodney rant about the stupidity in this decision the group started to walk toward the tree. John smirked as he heard Rodney grumble about how they should just be smart and go toward the flat area.

When they reached the tree, Doran and Teyla quickly scaled the tree to the top of the hill. Rodney grumbled about having to climb but he quickly decided that it was better to brave the tree then to brave Sheppard with his look of annoyance. Sheppard again gestured to Dr. Weir to go first. The first few tentative steps up the tree went well, but on the fourth step John saw her left foot start to slide backward. While Elizabeth was trying to find the odd handhold in order to try the next large step, John feared that she might fall. He pushed on her back in order to help steady her while she tried to reach the next step.

John watched as Dr. Weir quickly jerked away from his touch and started to turn toward him. Before he could try and prevent any mishap, he saw her lose her footing and land hard on the tree trunk. He grimaced at the pain that must have caused but thought that she was lucky that she was not a guy or that would have hurt so much more. Trying to lighten the mood John stated his thoughts out loud, "Ohh that had to hurt. Be glad you're not male. I cringe just thinking about what that fall would have done other than making a guy hit some very high notes." He chuckled and noticed that the others were glancing down to see if everything was okay. He didn't think the fall had been that bad and was about to say so when he noticed the tears creating clean lines on the leader's dirt smeared face. "Elizabeth," he asked worriedly as he walked over to her.

* * *

During the trek from the jumper towards the main settlement, Elizabeth had been staying alert to her surroundings in order to keep her feet firmly planted in the mud as she trailed behind Rodney. She glanced around her and in all directions she saw how much damage that had occurred during the hurricane's rampage. 'I still have my home which is more than I can say for the Athosians,' she thought as she looked around at the downed trees and the flooded land surrounding her. 'I should be grateful. I still have my life, and so do most of our people,' her mind shifted from the planet to the two soldier who lost their lives needlessly.

Trying to bring her focus back on the task before her, she thought of all that would need to be done on the mainland before the Athosians could come back and be safe in their homes. She wished that there was something that she could do in order to feel safe in her own home. She shivered at where her thoughts were taking her, and as the wind barrier in front of her shifted away. She glanced up to notice that the group was starting to head to the right in order to get up the hill in front of them. She was glad for the cold as it gave her some cover from others wondering about why she might be shivering. However she also worried about the group as the wind and the water were not a great combination for anyone's health; especially not for Dr. McKay as most everything seemed to make him sick, and much faster than others in the same conditions.

The group came upon a downed tree that acted as a ramp up the hill. The tree seemed firmly entrenched in the land and looked less slippery than the mud beside it; therefore Doran started to make his way cautiously up the tree. The next thing she knew, Rodney was half up the tree and so she started to look for the nearest handhold so she could start the ascent. A few steps up the tree there seemed to be no handhold nearby. She looked around and noticed what she was looking for slightly beyond an easy reach. She stretched out her arm and push onto her toes in order to extend her hand farther. Her shoulder started to protest at this movement, and she gritted her teeth to not let this defeat her, she would not let Kolya and his aftermath defeat her. Just as she was about to grasp the limb she felt someone touching her back.

In the back of her mind Elizabeth knew that she was on a planet far away from Kolya and that after the gunshot hit him that he was probably dead anyway, but an instinctual fear started to well up inside her. Her heart started to race. 'FIGHT OR FLIGHT' her brain screamed. As climbing up the rest of the way would take too long she decided that fighting was the smarter move. She quickly turned around in order to face her attacker. She tried to get her bearings after the quick move, but it was impossible. First the world spun and then she noticed her field of vision start to move downward. Mere milliseconds before she impacted the ground, she realized that she was falling. She held out her arms in an attempt to cushion the fall.

The pain was instantaneous and intensive as she landed straddling the tree trunk. Healing bruises screamed out as they were pressed upon and white flared behind her eyes. The pain in her shoulder was trying to vie for her attention. She tried to breath deeply in order to push the pain back and face whatever danger was in front of her.

She heard John's voice speak with levity and she knew that whether there was danger around or not that he would not let her come to harm if he could stop it. She started to calm down from the pain in her body, and from the adrenaline rush that her fear produced when the words filtered through her pain-fogged brain. Any remaining pain was currently pushed into the recesses of her mind as anger and other emotions took over.

Her thoughts whirled around in a mad dash to be heard as they jumped from topic to topic. 'Why does he think that falling like I did would only hurt a male? If I was male Kolya might not have preyed upon me. If I was male I might have been stronger and able to fight him off better.' Rationally Elizabeth knew that this was not always the case, but she was not thinking rationally at the time being.

She felt the tree shift as someone sat beside her. The pain started to trickle back into her awareness at the movement caused her bruises' to renew their screams in order to be heard over her muddled thoughts. She felt a finger caress her cheek and a gentle voice ask her if she was okay. She didn't know how to answer as her thoughts were all over the place. So rather than say nothing as would have been the smarter move, she said everything that came to mind.

* * *

Major Sheppard sat down near Elizabeth and asked her again if she was okay. He brushed the tears off her face, but only ended up smearing the dirt on her face even more. He heard Rodney call down to make sure that everything was okay, and when John looked up he saw Doran and McKay looking down with pensive looks on their faces. He didn't see Teyla and was about to wonder where she was when he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. Looking over, John saw that Teyla was half walking, half sliding down the hill.

While not hearing a response from his leader was starting to scare him, he didn't know what to think when she did start to respond.

Dr. Weir's response started out quiet, so quiet that John had to lean closer to hear her; but they ended up far from quiet.

"No… I'm not okay. That hurt. I hurt." Elizabeth said in a whisper as she struggled to voice her thoughts.

While the last part of the comment did not just include her physical pain, John did not grasp the hidden meaning behind her words. He started to wonder how hurt she was as she would usually bite her tongue in order to appear the unshakable leader that she thought she must be. John started to ask her how and where she hurt but before anything could come out of his mouth, Elizabeth continued on with her rant.

"Why would you think that a fall like that would only hurt a guy?" John could hear the contempt behind the words and when he tried to explain, he was again cut off. "Yeah, so if I was a guy that would have really hurt huh," John could hear the sarcasm dripping off her words. "What about the other hurts? They might not have happened if I was a guy." At this point she was all but yelling, "I could have kept him away. I could have defended myself." Realization of what she had just said started come to her; she could hear the warning bells in her head warning her to change the topic and to cover up her blunder. "I could have defended Atlantis." The last was said quieter than the rest.

John realized that Elizabeth was finally done and so he could now get a word in edgewise, but he could not think of anything to say as his shock of her outburst was too great. John looked up in the sky for guidance and saw the shocked faces of Doran and Rodney gazing down. If John was not so rattled he would have found it very amusing that Rodney was slack-jawed and shocked into silent. He glanced back down to Elizabeth when he heard a hiss of pain next to him. John watched as she stiffly pulled her legs up over the tree trunk and to her chest. Not caring at the time about getting filthier, Elizabeth leaned her back up against the sloped mud wall. He noticed the amount of caution that she took in positioning her right arm just so, and realized much of what Elizabeth was livid about. She couldn't prevent Kolya from getting the upper hand on her and thereby stabbing her in the shoulder. She was not able to prevent the city from being taken over, and so she felt helpless. Just like he did, especially when he thought that he got her killed. Before he could go down that emotional pitfall, he turned his attention back to Dr. Weir. Thinking that he knew much of the reason for her pain, emotional and physical, he asked her, "Did you jar your arm in the fall?"

Elizabeth looked up at him realizing that he had just given her the perfect out, "Yeah. It smarts…a lot," she said with gritted teeth as she tried to prevent the lie from spilling forth.

However John saw the gritted teeth and realized that the pain must have helped to bring her feelings about the attack on the city to the forefront of her mind. He thought when he got back he might talk to Dr. Beckett about everyone involved in the incursion to talk about how they felt. He knew that it would also prevail to him. But he had seen the stress on his whole team the last few days, and he would do whatever it took to help his teammates and friends.

Teyla finally reached the bottom of the incline and stood in front of the pair. "Dr. Weir," Teyla asked gently. After hearing the rant she had an idea of where Elizabeth was emotionally and mentally.

Elizabeth looked forward towards Teyla. Her eyes seemed to ask for help on how to get a few moments to herself away from the prying eyes of the guys. Teyla knew that she would do whatever it took to help Elizabeth, whether that help was a friend to rant to, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to help get her out of the mess her mouth had just gotten her in made no difference. Teyla was going to try to help with any and all aid that she could give, starting with getting the three men to go on ahead.

"Major Sheppard, why don't you, McKay and Doran walk on toward the settlement and get started with the work there. We will be behind shortly." Teyla saw the look of worry that he shot over to Elizabeth, and she added before he could complain about her health, "I'll give her something for the pain and make sure that her injuries will not affect her coming to help before we come to join you." She shoot him a questioning gaze complete with eyebrow raise in a silent question of whether he could do anything more than she promised to do.

John saw the questioning gaze on Teyla's face. "I don't leave people behind," he countered.

"We are not on an unknown, hostile plant," Teyla stated.

Before Teyla could say more Dr. Weir interjected, "We have a job that needs to get done before the day is over. Teyla and I will catch up soon, but Doran and Dr. McKay need to get started now on gathering information. We will be fine. Go." Elizabeth stated with as much authority as she possessed currently, which she thought was not much.

While Elizabeth doubted the authority her voice commanded, John did not hear anything out of place. He knew an order when he heard it. He knew that she was right, but he hated to have her and Teyla out of his sight. He tried to tell himself that it was just that he was going to be stuck with an arrogant scientist and the Genii informant by himself, but he knew subconsciously that there was another reason. However he did not have time to debate the reasons that he wished to stay here. He pulled himself upright and started climbing up the tree that he thought would have been the easiest and quickest way to get up the hill. He started to mentally chastise himself and before he knew it, he was at the top of the hill. He looked back down and noticed that Elizabeth had not moved from her curled up position, and that Teyla was fishing around in her bag. He tore his gaze away from the pair, and started walking toward the main settlement. All the while wondering what all was going on in his leader's head.

* * *

Teyla fished around in her backpack in order to find some pain pills for her friend. She did not see Elizabeth fall, but she did see how she landed. As Kolya hurt her only a few days ago, Teyla knew that she would be hurting after that fall. She had heard John's words to Dr. Weir, and she shook her head at the stupid comment. Once she realized that Dr. Weir was not answering Major Sheppard, she feared that Elizabeth might be stuck in a flashback. Wanting to get to her friend before John might have touched her, she started down the hill. That journey was evident as her entire back was covered in mud.

Half way down the hill she heard Dr. Weir talking to John. She was glad that Elizabeth was not reliving her memories, but then she started to worry again as she heard Elizabeth's rant. Teyla knew that Elizabeth would not want her story to come out like this, and she quickened her pace down the hill.

She was glad that they were able to talk John into going ahead of them. This way Elizabeth could deal with the pain and her emotions away from prying eyes. She dropped two pills into Elizabeth's hand, and then grabbed her canteen to pass over.

Elizabeth gratefully took the pills and hoped that they would start to work quickly. She wanted to be able to catch up to the others quickly so that they would not worry. She also wanted to be able to help out without pain eating at her awareness. Part of her reasoning to help currently was not charitable, as she was just hoping to get Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay to believe that she was fine.

She glanced up at Teyla and smiled at her newfound friend. She was grateful for Teyla charging in to help and protect her. "Thanks… for everything," she said.

Teyla just smiled at Elizabeth as she went to sit next to her. She hoped that her open manner would help to get Elizabeth to open up, and she was not mistaken.

"I said too much…didn't I," Elizabeth gazed over at Teyla in order to get the truth from her reactions.

Teyla schooled her face to remain neutral while she stated, "It could have gone better."

"You can say that again," Dr. Weir quipped back.

A questioning gaze settled on Teyla's face, but she did was she was requested, "It could have gone better…"

Looking up to see the look on Teyla's face she realized that she was not being mocked. She started to laugh heartily at Teyla's comment and confusing expression. She definitely needed that.

Teyla continued on with her thought through Elizabeth's laughter, "but it could have been worse."

"Too true," Elizabeth said as she sobered to the thought about all of her ideas and wonderings that she didn't say. "Do you think what I said would have been true though? I know that some people will prey on men in order to feel even stronger, but when Kolya and his men went to interrogate Rodney they didn't used the threat of…rape." Elizabeth fought to say the last word, and finally did whisper it as if it was a filthy word.

Dr. Weir uncoiled herself from her comfort position and started to look up to see how much of the climb there was until the top. Her mask started to slide back into place, but before it could try to shut out the past completely Teyla stated her peace. "You did all you could in the situation you were in. Do not forget that. You fought well with what you had and what you knew." Teyla could tell that Dr. Weir was not listening to the truth behind the words. So rather than issue platitude that would be ignored, Teyla tried to get at the one problem she knew she could help with. "Would you be willing to let me teach you how to defend yourself?" Teyla could see the sparkle in Elizabeth's eyes to show that she heard that question, and the compassion and love that went into the asking.

Elizabeth turned and offered a small smile to Teyla. "I would like that." She stood up on the tree trunk and glanced back up to the top to end the conversation. Teyla smiled knowing that she helped how she could here, and that she would help out more when it was needed. She watched as Elizabeth slowly worked on climbing the tree, and heard the hisses of pain that Elizabeth would issue forth as her shoulder complained with each additional movement. Teyla did not bother to ask if she needed help, or wanted to go back to the jumper. She knew that this was an obstacle that Elizabeth felt she now had to conquer. Teyla followed closely behind the leader of Atlantis more to let her know that she was there should Elizabeth need any help, whether with the climb or otherwise.

When they got to the top and started walking towards their destination, Elizabeth decided that the silence was too much. So in a sort of trading one type of teaching for another, she decided to start in on teaching Teyla the finer points of Earth language. "About earlier, when I stated that 'you could say that again' it's a figure of speech. It doesn't mean what it sounds like."

Teyla wondered at this, "Why would you say something that you don't mean?"

Elizabeth laughed again at the confused look gazing back at her as she realized that this was going to take longer than she thought.

* * *

John was glad to see Teyla and Dr. Weir coming toward the group. He was wondering about the concerned looked on Teyla's face until they came close enough so that he could hear their conversation. He smiled to himself as he pictured the difficult task that Elizabeth was endeavoring. Elizabeth looked like she was walking stiffly, but she never let on that she was in pain for the rest of the day. Rodney was working on a way to get the water drained from the area, Doran checked on the houses that were still standing to determine whether they could be repaired or if they should be discarded for safety reasons. Once he was done with that, Doran went over and was trying to help out Rodney. He believed that they could use irrigation techniques, while Rodney believed that a more technical approach should be taken. They debated for a long time until they realized that they were essentially fighting over the same topic just from two different directions. Then they worked on finalizing the plans.

Teyla, John, and Elizabeth walked around the settlement trying to find anything that could be salvaged. They each went their separate ways, however Teyla tried to stay as close to Elizabeth as possible in her search area. Therefore Elizabeth was able to hear the gasp of sorrow that issued from Teyla as she picked up a soaked item. Trying to be there for the other women as she was for herself, Elizabeth hurried over to Teyla to see what was wrong. "Teyla," once Elizabeth knew that she was being heard she continued on as she gestured at the object, "What is it?"

Teyla clutched the object to her chest, and Elizabeth could now see that it was a book of some kind. "Most of our history is taught through stories, but many years ago my father's father decided that we should begin to write down many of our stories in case they should be lost or that the storytellers would be culled. He personally started to write what he knew and was taught. My father continued on. Then myself, and then I gave it to Halling when I decided to stay in Atlantis."

Elizabeth had not known what all that her friend had given up in order to stay with them in the city. She wished that she could promise to save the waterlogged item as it was one of the main ties Teyla had to her family, and that it was a treasure of knowledge to the Athosians. She knew that Teyla was just like herself in the fact that she would not want to hear false promises and platitudes. "Maybe this time you can get all of your storytellers to help out. And hopefully once your people get back here, they will be safe from the Wraith for a long time and will be able to get all your known history in writing." Teyla seemed to brighten at the thought of hearing all the stories of their ancestors again. It was a great idea and she knew it, however as she went to place the book in the discard pile Elizabeth could see the pain in the other woman's face as if she was ripping out a piece of herself. Not knowing anything else to say, but knowing that Teyla needed to know she was now there for her, she stated, "I'm so sorry."

Teyla looked over to Elizabeth and remembered that she would always be a part of her ancestors as long as she did not forget the stories and lose herself to the past and the what ifs. She flipped open the book to two different spots and ripped out the pages from the bound book. She folded the papers and put them in her pocket.

Elizabeth watched as Teyla saved two pieces of paper and then dropped the book on the pile that was not salvageable. She watched as Teyla turned her back on the pile and went to pick up the nearest object she could find. Now it was Elizabeth's turn to work near Teyla in order to remind her that she would be there if needed.

The daylight started to get dimmer as the light was nearing the horizon, and the workers were surprised when they looked at their watches and noted that it was close to five in the afternoon. Knowing that they needed to start the journey back to the landing site before too much longer, they started packing up their gear and placing it back on their backs for the trek back. Rodney and Doran were still chatting on the walk about what they would be able to do to get the water level down. When the group got near the tree, they decided to follow Teyla's example from earlier and therefore slid down the slope. Rodney kept complaining that he would get injured on the way down, but he quickly sobered when he saw the look Sheppard gave him. Knowing to shut his mouth for once as he remembered the incident from earlier in the day, he slowly started his controlled fall/slide down the hill.

Everyone made it back to the jumper fairly unscathed from the day's events. Major Sheppard started his checklist of pre-flight status, and once the other team got back he flew the jumper back to the city.


	17. Chapter 17

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 17**

AN: WARNING! This chapter deals with some intense memories of the rape, both emotionally and physically. Do not read if this offends you.

AN2: Thanks to all who reviewed this story.

* * *

The whole group was happy to get back to the city in order to get warm and dry. Dr. Weir let everyone have an hour before debriefing in order to eat, get a shower, and get changed.

Major Sheppard was looking forward to getting a warm shower and scrubbing off all the ground in dirt from his skin, but first he wanted to talk to Dr. Beckett about his plan for helping his friends. He stepped into the infirmary, and most everyone stepped out of his way in order to keep away from the messy major. Everyone that is except the man he was looking for. Carson stepped right up to Major Sheppard and asked, "Are you hurt?" Once he heard the answer was no, Carson started berating John for getting his infirmary messy and contaminated with who knew what.

John looked behind him, and noticed the trail of muddy footprints. There was also a trail of water, and John realized that he was still dripping wet. This fact was not really felt after the amount of time he had spent in the water today. He turned an apologetic smile back to the doctor and said he was sorry, but instead of leaving he told Dr. Beckett about Dr. Weir's accident and her anger afterwards.

Dr. Beckett had been thinking that all those who had been left in the city during the hurricane and the attack should talk about the incident, but he was surprised to hear the Major request it. "You do know that this mandatory counseling would include you, correct?"

Dr. Beckett heard the groan from the Major, and he started to grin in satisfaction until John shot back, "You do know that this mandatory counseling would also include you, correct?" John shot the doctor a gleeful grin that reached his twinkling eyes. John turned and walked out of the room humming some unknown tune. He did not even wait to see the indignant look on the doctor's face as he realized that Major Sheppard used his words against him. Then Carson groaned as the implication of those words was fully comprehended

* * *

John walked into the conference room right before the meeting was to start. His hair was still damp, and looked like he only brushed his fingers through his hair in his rush to get here. He noticed that everyone else was already sitting around the table. He quickly got a seat and started to drift off when the topic stayed on farming and Dr. McKay's technobabble for an extended period of time.

John was brought back to the meeting when he heard people moving around him. He looked around and hoped that no one noticed that he fell asleep, or that he didn't participate in the conversation, however he knew that that was not the case when Teyla grinned up at him and as she walked by he heard her say that she briefed the group about the clean-up.

He glanced over at Dr. Weir and noticed her gazing at him, and he realized that she did not miss anything about his little nap. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he knew it couldn't be good when she asked to speak to him, but he was also glad for this opening of how to get her back in her office.

"Okay, I'll meet you in your office in a few minutes but I really need to use the little boy's room," he quickly high-tailed it out of the conference room before she could say anything. He rounded the corner and watched the leader of Atlantis as she struggled to come to terms with going back to her office. He knew that it was back to prefect order as he had talked to Aiden after he spoke with Dr. Beckett. On his way out of Aiden's room John warned him that he heard Dr. Beckett mention that he wanted everybody that was involved in the Genii incident to see a shrink. Aiden groaned about meddling doctors. John did not bother to add about meddling Majors as he left to get a shower.

* * *

Dr. Weir watched as Major Sheppard practically ran out of the room in search of the nearest restroom. She tried to tell the Major to meet her back here once he was finished, but he was gone before she could get the first syllable formed. She gazed down at the papers in front of her, but she did not see them as her mind warred about what she should do. 'He's expecting to meet me in my office, so would he check in here or would he just go on his merry way hoping to get out of trouble.' She knew that it was a no-brainer. Major Sheppard would do anything to try and get out of trouble, including gawking at people with a strange boyish/puppy-dog like pout in his face and eyes. Therefore she knew that she had to beat the Major to her office.

She also knew that she was not sure if she could face her office right know. She really did not want to try and meet John at her office just to have him come and find her an emotional wreck in the walkway to her office, or in some hidden corner in the cramped room. Already today she had almost spilled her secret, and she was still so emotionally drained. 'How much more can I deal with right now?' She wished that Teyla was still around so she could have a sounding board for her thoughts. She knew that Teyla would come running if she asked, but Elizabeth already felt like she was leaning too heavily on the Athosian. 'And Teyla has a lot on her plate too,' she thought about the book incident from earlier today. 'Was that still today,' she wondered as there was so much that had taken place since this morning, 'and the day is still not over as I need to determine if I'm going to deal with my office, or just push it away for now.' Elizabeth had always thought of herself as a strong person, and she was starting to wonder where that person had escaped to as the one currently here wanted to go hide in her quarters and pull a blanket over her head in a way to shut out the outside world. 'How much power am I giving to Kolya if I continue to hide?' With that thought, Elizabeth pushed out of her chair, grabbed up the papers, and started to walk stiffly toward her office.

With her head held high, Dr. Weir started to make her way across the short walkway to her office. However half way across her breath started to come in shorter gasps as a sense of deja-vu threatened to overwhelm her. She could almost picture Kolya sitting in her chair as she got closer. She turned from the view of where her chair would be, and where Kolya started his sick mind game with her. She almost expected to feel the butt of a gun jab her into moving quickly to her office. She was relieved when there was nothing trying to force her back to her office other than her desire to not let anyone know that she was afraid of going back there, especially Major Sheppard after her actions on the mainland today. Elizabeth clutched the folders to her chest, and grabbed the handrail with her other hand in a white-knuckled grasp. She hoped that if anyone would see her they would assume that she was just looking over the gate room and watching her people work around her. However if anyone would look closely, they would notice that her eyes were shut tightly and she was gasping for breath that seemed to get stuck near her pounding heart.

Finally after what seemed like eternity but was actually only a few minutes, Elizabeth was about to get her breathing under control. She took in some deep breaths in order to center herself and to procrastinate for as long as possible. She knew that John would be coming soon, and she was tempted to let him find her here watching out over the gate room. Then she could have a companion to enter with her. She relished the idea of being supported as she entered the office, even if Major Sheppard was not aware of the fact the he was helping her face her emotional demons. He knew she was stabbed by Kolya; while he might realize that it happened in her office, he would not realize the rest of her nightmare. 'But what could he learn from my office?' she thought about the state her office was in, and wondered if she would be able to get things in order enough to not draw undue attention to what happened in there. She pushed away from the railing, and strode with thoughts of purpose, dread, and preservation racing through her mind.

When she crossed the threshold to her office, the lights automatically came on. She looked around with shock at her pristine office. Gratitude washed over her as she realized that someone had taken care of the cleanup for her. She had not relished the idea of picking up the objects that she had used to try and protect herself, nor did she wish to clean up the blood stain that she knew would have dried into the floor. 'But was that the only stain that would point to the horrors that took place here?' She racked her brain for the answer even though she was not looking forward to glancing into that past situation. She tried to recall whether Kolya had gotten off or not. She dumped the folders onto the desk in front of her, and bonelessly collapsed into the same chair that she had sat in across from Kolya. She put her head in her hands in order to try and force her mind to remember events that it had tried so adamantly to bury deeply. Tears coursed down her checks as she tried to mentally fast forward through her rape.

Thoughts and image whirled around her. She remembered how her own body betrayed her, and the harsh words that Kolya spat down at her; however they were tame compared to the ones that she had mentally berated herself with… She remembered the intense pain that happened soon after. She felt the cold ground beneath her and felt tears course down the side of her face and trickle down onto her ears. She could hear the sharp words about a pathetic leader and a weak female who could not control her emotions any better than she controlled her body… She could feel her back chaffing against the floor as he brutally entered her over and over again. She gazed over to the wall to ignore what was happening to her and realized that this point of view seemed very odd; she wondered if this was how her dog saw the world around her. She felt the stabbing pain as Kolya presses down on her shoulders to bring the pain back so she could not disregard what was happening… She remembered the weight of him as he collapsed onto her when he was finally finished…She remembered the chaste kiss that he placed upon her forehead and her thoughts about the consequences of going for his jugular with her teeth… She remembered how he stood over her and she could feel his gaze of disgust and pleasure gazing down at her.

She pulls her thoughts away from the past. 'How can I remember so much but not be able to answer one stupid question?' she thought as she contemplated the odd things that she focused on to mentally continue her fight against Kolya. As she could not remember all the details, she wondered what the cleaning person might have been able to deduce about what happened in here not so long ago. 'Well at least any lingering smells would have dissipated over the last week,' she thought gratefully about that at least. Fear clutched at her stomach as she realized that she did not know who cleaned her office let alone when. 'But what if the office was cleaned awhile ago?' Would the person place two and two together with the shambles her office was in and figure out that Kolya hurt her more than just the shoulder wound. Her thoughts issued forth a warning as she realized that most people in the city did not know about the Genii attack. 'What if someone outside of the select few that knew about the attack cleaned the room? What would they think of me? Would they now see a leader that they assumed had already shacked up with someone and liked to wildly have sex in her office?' She started rocking back and forth as she started to picture every look she had received from people in the last few days and assumed that they were all shaking their heads at her as they imagined that there leader was a slut.

Elizabeth rocked back and forth for awhile until she heard a commotion in the control room. She sat up rigid in the chair when she heard Major Sheppard's voice drift closer as he talked to someone as he made his way to her office.

* * *

John half crouched, half tilted around a towering plant. He thought it ironic that the city was emptied of all the thousand year old dead plants just to be replaced with new plant life from the mainland and other planets that the offworld teams had visited. He chuckled at the complaints that Rodney had issued about plants and allergies as he started to sneeze continuously when this particular plant was put into place. He glanced out at Dr. Weir and watched as she mentally calculated what she wanted to do. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she scrunched up her brow and bit the inside of her lip as she pondered the meeting place for his reprimand which he had a feeling she was adding to at this very moment. After a few minutes he noticed her face go void of all emotions, she squared her shoulders, and pushed off of the table to stand. He knew a determined look when he saw one, and he smiled at the strength of the women in front of him. He was glad to know that she was fighting her internal demons and seemed to be coming out ahead as she finally walked out of the conference room. While he knew that it would still be a while before her office and the city would feel totally secure, and while he knew that she would never forget the events that took place, he knew that she would learn from them and find the strength that she thought she had lost.

John watched Elizabeth walk with a ramrod straight posture with her head held high. He wondered how she would deal with stepping into her office, and what she might think when she saw her now spotless workplace. His mind soon started to wonder if she would even make it to her office as she stopped in the middle of the gangway between her office and the control room. He watched her shoulders hunch over as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. He also saw the pinched expression on her face. He did not know how long she stood there, however soon she quickly pushed off of the railing and seemed to race into her office as if being chased by the devil himself. He wondered about her actions, but he quickly forgot his wonderings as he noticed Dr. Weir stop dead in her tracks the minute she entered her office. He could almost picture the contemplative look that he knew was gracing her face at this very moment. He smiled that he was able to shock her, and to help her out…well him and Aiden he grudgingly added the lieutenant to his thoughts. Thinking of lieutenants, Lt. Murphy chose that minute to approach the seemingly non-busy military leader of Atlantis. The lieutenant started to inform John about the progress in the city clean up and about the structural integrity results that had already been determined for various parts of the city. John glanced over and noticed that Elizabeth was calmly gazing at her office and so he turned to listen to the progress report.

John glanced at his watch for the fourteenth time since Lt. Murphy had started his report. John could not have imagined that the man could have picked a worse time to interrupt him, but he did realize that as he was gone all day there was even more to inform him of now. John hoped that Dr. Weir would not fault him for being so late for his impromptu meeting with her. He knew that she would not believe that he was in the bathroom for this long; he was surprised to realize that he could actually use the truth as his 'excuse' as that was a new one to him he thought sardonically. He glanced over to see if Dr. Weir looked thoroughly put out that he had not shown up yet. John was shocked to see her slumped in a chair with her head buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking intently as if the leader of Atlantis was sobbing uncontrollably. 'Shit, maybe I pushed her too fast…I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of her,' he wondered how long she had been in that position before he thought to look over in order to see how much trouble he thought he might have been in. He mentally screamed at himself for thinking more about himself then for a fellow team member. He glanced at his watch again in order to give himself a reason to hurry away from the man in front of him. "Crap, I have a meeting with Dr. Weir and I'm already late. Do you have anything for me to read and I can get back with you tomorrow."

The lieutenant grabbed a handful of papers and started to pass them over to the major. Before they were even a foot away from the lieutenant's body, John grabbed the papers up and started to high-tail it away before he could even think about setting up a time to meet the next day. Lt. Murphy thought about asking his commander when he thought would be a good time to meet, but he could tell from the speed and purpose behind the major's strides that anything further would not have been heeded. Lt. Murphy sighed as he thought about the amount of time it would take tomorrow to try and set up a new meeting, but he would take that as it came. As of now the thought of a bed and a good night's rest pulled Lieutenant Murphy away from the control room and toward his quarters.

John started to get closer to her office and he realized that Dr. Weir might not want him barging in on her while she was crying. He knew that he would not like others to see him in any light that would make him appear weak as he was the military leader of the city. He knew it was probably even worse for Dr. Weir as she was the leader of the entire city and not just the military aspect of it. Therefore she did not have the added luxury of ordering someone to do something and then expecting them to do so with no arguments. He thought of himself as an underling in the military ranks and mentally amended his thoughts to 'expecting them to do something with minimal arguments.' John noticed that Peter Grodin was still awake and working in the control room, therefore John decided that he would be a good cover for his trying to get Dr. Weir's attention without letting her know that he saw what was going on in her office. "Hey Peter, How is everything in this fine city this wonderful," he paused to double check the time before completing his earlier statement, "night!"

Peter raised his eyebrows at the Major. He was confused about why the major would ask him such a benign question as he was usually ignored or was asked about what was going on with the city from a scientific or military standpoint. He did not think this question was about either issue as the major seemed so nonchalant about his wonderings. Peter also could not understand why Major Sheppard was talking so loud. He knew that Sheppard had just gotten back from the wet mainland, but the major was not swimming in the water that flooded the land so Peter was at a loss to why the Major might be talking so loud as if he was having trouble hearing anything, including how loud he was.

John had no trouble hearing how loud he was, and he had a feeling that Elizabeth would not be able to miss how loud he was either. He heard as Peter started to explain the reports about the searches and repairs to the city. John tried not to smile as Peter was almost yelling to him as he thought that John was having trouble hearing. He listened for a minute or two. Then hoping that he had given Dr. Weir enough time to compose herself, he quickly and loudly told Peter that he was on his way to talk to the good doctor and as he was already late he should get in there before she decided to lecture him about his tardiness.

Peter was confused to say the least when the Major finally stepped away from his station and towards Dr. Weir's office. He shook his head and as he realized that much of what he knew about the Major confused him, Peter just sighed and put the situation behind him as just one more of Major Sheppard's idiosyncrasies.

* * *

Elizabeth heard Major Sheppard nearing her office. She didn't think to question the fact that she usually never heard anyone talking from the control room. The only thing that she could think of at the moment was that she did not what the major to see her having a breakdown in her office. She angrily swiped at her tears that seemed to stubbornly keep trickling out of her eyes. She stood up and walked away from the chair knowing that it would be odd for her to not be behind her desk. As she started to round the table, she realized that she did not want to sit in her chair as she remembered the smug look of Kolya's face as he sat in that chair gazing at her as she came through the doorway. She did not want anyone to ever be in the same position she had been in; even if that was just about chair placement and staring across a desk as someone would walk through the entryway. She also knew that her tears were not completely finished with their trek down her face. She stared at her bookshelf trying to get her emotions under control and her mask back into place before she would turn around. She fingered the books in front of her, and hoped that John would just assume that she was searching for a tome that she needed.

John crossed into the room and was surprised that Dr. Weir was not sitting in her normal spot behind her desk. However when he glanced over to see her back to him, John realized that her shoulders were very tense, and while he could see her searching for a book, he could also see her occasionally swipe at her eyes in an attempt to gain control before she would face him. He sat there with his 'oh shit, what am I in trouble now for' look in order to pretend that he noticed nothing out of the ordinary if Dr. Weir would turn around and face him. However after a few moments, John saw that she had not passed her hand over her face for awhile now, but she was also not turning to face him. He saw her head tilt in order to give her a view of where the trashcan once sat, and where John remembered the toppled over chair sat. Wanting to fill the silence, and believing that Dr. Weir was questioning what happened to her room since the last time that she saw it, John decided to quip, "Aiden does a mean spit job when he wants to doesn't he?"

That got her attention, and Elizabeth turned to face John. John noticed that her eyes were puffy and blood-shot, and that her gazed just passed over his head rather than looking straight at him as she said, "Aiden did this?" John pretended to not see the difference in his leader's normal appearance and just said, "yep," which a big grin on his face.

Dr. Weir was relived to know that it was someone who knew of the Genii incident that cleaned up her office, but she still wondered about the when and the why. She started running her fingers across the corner of her desk in a nervous gesture.

John seemed to read her questions in her face as he continued with the explanation. "When I came looking for you this morning and saw the wreck that your office was in…" Elizabeth took a deep steadying breath as she realized that her office was cleaned today as so most any evidence would have been wiped from the room long before now. She smiled gratefully and tuned back into the major's words. "…I thought you might want it cleaned before you would want to come back, especially once I noticed that you were working in the conference room and not in here. I thought after today and what you said you might want to get back to normal. Make it so he can't overpower you anymore even though he isn't here physically." John trailed off hoping that he had not overstepped his boundaries.

Elizabeth was grateful for the words that John mentioned. John realized that she needed to move past the trauma that had occurred in this room, and even though he did not know what had truly happened in here, his words were no less than the truth, and no less sincere. She smiled at the truth behind the words, and the support that was behind them. She started to feel the tears threaten to fall again, but this time they were from gratitude rather than fear.

John noticed that Dr. Weir was starting to get emotional and that her eyes glistened with unfallen tears. Not knowing if she would even want him to see her cry in a sense of gratitude, and knowing that he wouldn't be able to stand watching her cry for any reason John switched the subject, "so you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah…" everything that she was going to say went out of her head so she said the only think she could, "Thanks!" She mused about the switch from the grateful tongue-tied leader currently to the angry verbose woman from earlier. As now when she wanted to talk she couldn't form any words, and when she didn't want to talk she could not seem to shut up. The irony was a bit too much, but before Elizabeth could start to laugh uncontrollably she was pulled from her thoughts as she noticed Rodney standing in her door. "Is there something that you need Rodney?" she said to the gapping man in the doorway.

"Yes… in a minute," Rodney brushed off the Dr. Weir's question as he turned his gaze to Major Sheppard. "Did I hear you correctly; you had Aiden clean up this office?"

John was confused that Rodney had brushed off Elizabeth in order to ask such a stupid question. Then he wondered how long Rodney had been nearby, and about the hurt undertone that he heard in the scientist's question. Therefore all John could get out was a confused, "Yes."

"Why won't someone clean my office?" Rodney grumbled peevishly.

John did not know whether to laugh or to treat the question as a serious one. He heard a slight chuckle from the corner of the room and realized that Elizabeth was trying to hold in her laughter. He shot a quick glance over and noticed that the tears that now threatened to fall were caused by the humor in the situation. Deciding that he could tolerate the obnoxious questions in order to lighten the mood in the room, John decided to continue with the new direction of thoughts. "When a maniac ransacks your lab, you let me know and I'll be the first one there with a mop in one hand and a broom in the other."

Before John could smile at his witty remark, Rodney verbally shot back, " A maniac did ransack my office… remember it was YOU… and I do believe that there was a 'do not touch for fear of death' note that SOMEONE IGNORED. You could have blown us all up if you would have messed up, or worse you might have depleted one of our major power sources."

Despite the muffled laugh from the corner, John was getting ticked off at the mocking scientist in front of him. "You might have died if I didn't," John yelled back.

"We almost died BECAUSE you did," Rodney quipped back as he remembered the threat that Kolya placed over them in order to get John to put the power back on. And if he wouldn't have turned the power back on, the grounding station would not have been able to be separated. Therefore turning the power off seemed at the time to be the stupidest decision that the smug major who sat in front of him had ever made. Granted his anger blinded him to the fact that the power outage also bought him some time to plan what to do in their current crisis.

Before John could say anything back, Elizabeth bellowed slightly above her normal speaking voice, "That's enough!" She didn't ever really yell, but her above normal voice was enough to put anyone to shame.

John looked back at Dr. Weir and was saddened to realize that all humor in the argument had dissipated long ago, and that the topic was straying too close to the issue that John was hoping Elizabeth would get away from for at least a few hours. He glanced back over his shoulder at the now flabbergasted scientist, "I resend my earlier offer of help." He gazed back at Dr. Weir to see her gaze narrow on him, and he smiled his patented 'sorry I couldn't help it' grin.

"Finish this out of my office. Dismissed," she sat down and gazed after the two men as they continued their verbal bantered out of her office and down the walkway. A grin came to her face as she realized that these "boys" would never change, and for that she was glad. She did not notice that she was now sitting in the exact spot that Kolya had earlier in the week.

She started to turn to the work pilled on her desk when she heard Rodney yell to John from somewhere in the cavernous gate room, "JOHN, I'M GOING TO GET YOU FOR THAT!"

"NOT IF YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!" she heard John yell back from a different area in the room.

Things were looking up. She heard a crash from the gate room and heard Rodney shout out a new expletive. Her grin now turned into a laugh, and she turned toward the paper work that she had brusquely dumped onto her desk not even thirty minutes ago.

* * *

Elizabeth's head started to droop down to her chest, and she quickly jerked upright. She glanced at her watch at noticed that it was thirteen minutes after one o'clock in the morning; 'oh-one-thirteen' she thought and was thrilled that she was starting to pick up some of the military jargon around here. Now she just had to worry about learning some of the scientific jargon. Knowing that that would not happen for a long time and that she needed to get some sleep after the last few nights of nightmares, she stood up and stretched. She marveled at the friends she didn't know she had who would do anything to help her, including cleaning her destroyed office, or orchestrating that clean-up.

The pain in her shoulder reminded Elizabeth about the fall that occurred less than twenty four hours earlier. She debated about going to the doctor for a pain pill, however her mind was made up when she thought about a pain-free drugged stupor that would allow her to get a good night's sleep.

Elizabeth walked into the dimly lit infirmary and glanced around for Dr. Beckett. Even though it was very late, she felt that he would still be here as he seemed to be trying to prove his worth after his part during the storm. She had heard from others that Carson felt that he did not contribute to the well being of those still in Atlantis during the Genii attack as he was supposed to do as a doctor. He was not a fighter and so he could not help in that standpoint, and then he was not able to help medically once the city was back under Atlantian control as he was injured himself. Dr. Weir sympathized with him and knew exactly how the doctor felt. She glanced into Carson's office and was proven right in her assumption as the Scot was dozing slightly on his desk. Elizabeth decided to forgo the pill and let the doctor sleep, however when she turned around to walk away she almost collided with a nurse who asked if there was anything that she could do. Dr. Weir winced at the noise, and hoped that Dr. Beckett would have slept through it. But as the doctor was a light sleeper and always worried about everyone but himself, he quickly hurried out of his office to see the two ladies standing toe to toe. Seeing that the doctor was nearby, and terrified of overstepping her bounds with the leader of Atlantis, the nurse left in order to continue cleaning up the infirmary before the next shift change.

Elizabeth started to regret her decision to come her. She knew that the pain was not comfortable, but she could tolerate it. She felt bad about disturbing the doctor's sleep as she could tell from his blood-shot eyes and the dark circles under them that he desperately needed the sleep. She did not realize that her face was a near mirror image to his in that perspective. But he was awake now and looked genuinely concerned as he asked gently, "Lass, what is it?"

Dr. Beckett remembered about the conversation earlier with Major Sheppard, but he did not want to let her know that John had told him anything. Therefore he waited patiently until Elizabeth dropped her pride long enough to mention that she jarred her arm earlier and was in pain. Finally getting the answer he needed to do something to help Dr. Weir, Carson steered her over to the nearest bed. He patted the bed and went to gather up some clean bandages.

As leader of Atlantis, Dr. Weir admired that the doctor was so thorough about the health and well-being of everyone in Atlantis; however as Elizabeth, she wished that he would just give her the pain pills she desired knowing that she was so recently injured. He came back to her, and pulled the curtain around the bed before asking her to remove her shirt so that he could see her shoulder. Elizabeth clenched her eyes shut tightly as she stripped for another male in less than a week. She was grateful when she opened her eyes to note that the doctor was getting his supplies sorted out on a side table and so was not looking her way. She did not want to have anyone gawk at her as she removed her clothing, even if it was a doctor; she did not want him to see the look of utter terror that quickly passed her face as she was asked to remove her shirt. She clutched the shirt in front of her to provide a little more cover then her bra alone.

She sat there as Doctor Beckett pulled off the old bandage and tutted as he noticed that the wound was slightly seeping and bleeding again. He pressed on the shoulder to determine if the wound was warm at all, fearing that Rodney might have been correct in his diagnosis for once as he came in earlier complaining that his wound was infected with any number of bugs that might have been on the flooded mainland. He was relived to note that the wound was neither red and puffy nor warm to the touch. However he wondered at the amount of pain it was causing as Elizabeth sucked in her breath from the pain and tried to pull away when he touched the wound. Trying not to hurt her again, Carson deftly re-bandaged her shoulder, gave her a couple of pain pills, and asked her to come in if the pain got worse or she developed a fever.

The cold air on her back, and the pain as someone pressed on her shoulder caused her to recoil from the touch. She hated herself for the weakness she was betraying, and hated it even more when the doctor assumed that he caused her a great deal of pain and therefore apologized profusely. She was grateful when the pain pills where placed in her hand, and she quickly dry swallowed them as waiting for the cup of water that was three feet away would have taken too long. She heard the words of caution that the doctor gave her as he turned around for her to get her shirt back on. She thanked the doctor and hurried out of the infirmary before he could mention the fact about the mandatory counseling for everyone that was affected in some way by the attack.

Elizabeth quickly walked to her room as she mentally pummeled herself for her weakness: about wanting the pain pills to get a good night's sleep, about not being able to keep her fears and thoughts from others, about not being strong enough to handle Kolya's attack or the aftermath. The pills started to take effect as Elizabeth was getting ready for bed. They were fully in her system as she struggled to get her sleep-fogged brain to pull the covers around her shoulders. Only half successful in her attempt, Elizabeth fell into the first dreamless sleep that she had had for awhile, and the last one that she would have for a good time yet.

In the morning she was pleased to feel well-rested, and the mental wounds that she inflicted the night before were all but forgotten as they were filed away into a dark corner of her mind when she was asleep. She smiled as she took a deep breath and got ready to face this new day.


	18. Chapter 18

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.

**Weathering the Storm Part 18**

It had been two weeks since the destructive storm swept across the planet and nearly destroyed the city. While the repairs were coming along nicely, they were not coming along as quickly as the scientists would have liked. For safety reasons many of the labs were the last places on the list to be fixed up, and the scientists were going stir crazy without their toys to play with; once the most hazardous repairs were finished in the city, the military then turned their sights on the mainland and getting the Athosians home.

Many of the scientists sent reports to Dr. Weir stating that their labs were crucial and needed to be fixed as soon as possible. Often the reports were delivered by the offended scientist. Dr. Weir shuddered as she thought of the impromptu meeting with Dr. Kavanagh, but that was nothing compared to the continual whining and complaining of one Dr. Rodney McKay. Not only was Rodney complaining to Elizabeth about his lab, he seemed to be spending his added free time bickering much more so then usual with Major Sheppard. Therefore Dr. Weir was ecstatic to learn that Dr. Brendan Gaul had found an Ancient satellite within a days travel by jumper. Believing that Dr. Gaul should get to go on the trip to see the satellite that he discovered out in deep space, and knowing that she could use a break from the bickering 'children' she decided that she should get them out of her hair…_I mean I should let Dr. Gaul go explore the satellite and he does need someone to drive the jumper, _she reasoned with herself.

Once Major Sheppard radioed in to ask for permission to depart, Dr. Weir breathed a sigh of relief. She was grateful for the time this would give her to relax from the issues the military leader and the brilliant scientist were causing her. She briefly thought about the two additional scientists on the trip and felt sorry for them as they had to be stuck in a small jumper with the two 'children' for 15 hours both ways. _If they survive their ordeal they both deserve a metal, _Dr. Weir thought ironically. She did not realize at the time how much she would regret that thought later.

After close to fifteen hours of freedom from the childish dynamic duo, Major Sheppard finally radioed in to mention that they had reached the satellite. They went on to tell her that they wanted to travel to a nearby planet to check out a thousand year old distress signal from a Wraith ship. She did not like the idea, but she did agree that it would be smarter to check out the planet now as they were there. However she started to have a bad feeling with the whole situation when both John and Rodney agreed that they should check out the planet. They never agreed on much of anything, and she wondered if hell froze over. Despite her gut feeling that something would go wrong, she gave her permission to check out the planet with the order that they call her back within three hours. Within the next hour that bad feeling continued to grow in the pit of her stomach and so she called Aiden into her office in order to put a team on stand-by just in case something was to go wrong.

Aiden could see the troubled look on Dr. Weir's face, and wanting to make sure that his teammates and the other two scientists would be okay if there was trouble he did not think twice about getting a team ready for a rescue mission. However when Elizabeth tried to send them out before the three hour deadline for the radio call he wondered about what was going on. "They're not even overdue yet."

The worry and anxiety was clear on the leader's face as she stated, "It doesn't matter. Call it intuition, paranoia, or we can just call it a drill. Either way I want you to go now." There had been so much pain and death since the beginning of this mission to the Pegasus galaxy and she did not want to lose anymore if it could be helped. Her gut instinct was telling her that if nothing was done now, then the whole team would not make it. In many of the deadly situations, she was not in the position to help. This worry and her thoughts that she could make a difference here made her know that this rescue mission must leave, and leave now.

Teyla could tell that Dr. Weir was nervous about something; respecting Elizabeth and knowing that her friend needed her fears alleviated she stated, "We can always be called back, but if they are in trouble…"

Elizabeth finished Teyla's thought before she herself could, "every moment counts, exactly." The rest of the meeting went quickly, and the second jumper soon left the city in pursuit of the first. Elizabeth hoped that they would be in time, but she still felt only trepidation of whether the Major and the scientists would be okay.

* * *

_This is bad!_ Rodney thought as he contemplated about the situation at hand. There was still over an hour until they had to radio in to Atlantis and therefore over 16 hours before the team could get any help for their situation. Rodney looked down at the still partially cocooned and elderly looking Dr. Gaul and back toward the entrance in which Major Sheppard had just bolted out of in pursuit of a Wraith. _Yes, this is very bad indeed!_

Rodney turned back to his fellow scientist. He noticed the bloody fingerprint indents in Dr. Gaul's chest, and the fact that the thirty year old now looked twice that. The fear and confusion over the current circumstances drove Rodney to looking at ways to try and control the situation that was in front of him. He kneeled down by his coworker and started to work on stopping the blood flow and covering the wound on his chest. As he pressed on the wound, he was able to feel the paper-like skin on Dr. Gaul's chest which was another tell-tale sign about how aged his colleague was. He wandered what else he could do after he cleared away the rest of the web-like matter from Brendan. Rodney really wanted to go make sure that Major Sheppard wasn't getting into his normal trouble; however he was stuck in this chamber helping out a man that was very close to death. As Dr. McKay could not help out his teammate, he vowed to do whatever he could to help the man in front of him.

"Rodney, show me," Dr. Gaul asked wanting to see how much of his life the Wraith took from him.

Rodney was starting to hate his vow to help out Dr. Gaul. He did not think the man should see what he now looked like, but he knew that as a man of science he would want to know the truth if he was in the same position that Brendan was in. Therefore he pulled out the mirror while he swore he would help Dr. Gaul deal with what he saw.

Dr. Gaul gazed at the truth staring back at him, "Oh my God!" He could tell that he would not make it off this planet alive. He was a thirty year old man dieing of old age, and if he was lucky enough to make it back to Atlantis alive his life would be full of arthritic pain and thought of what might have been. He could barely move his extremities and so his life of science and intrigue would be over, and he thought he might prefer actual death then the slow dieing that he could now look forward to.

Rodney saw the shocked look on Brendan's face and tried to alleviate the shock by stating, "I don't know how it works, Brendan. I don't think anybody does. Maybe you haven't really aged." He knew based on what he saw and felt that this was not the truth, but while truth meant everything in science, Rodney was starting to realize that truth was not always the best thing if it would hurt someone. He knew that Brendan was now an old man, but he could not stand to see his fellow scientist give up because of something that he said. "Maybe it doesn't work that way. Look, it's possible that, in time, you could get better. I mean, the important thing is that you're still alive." _Please let him at least see the truth in these words, _Rodney set out a silent plea to whomever or whatever might be listening.

Rodney felt an odd tugging at his heart. He knew that he was getting too close to Dr. Gaul to keep from feeling anything. He knew that the walls he had built up of bitterness and scathing remarks to keep the world at a distance was starting to crumble. With the walls falling, Rodney felt the pain even more as he knew he couldn't do anything to really help the person in front of him. He kept massaging the doctor's hands to keep the circulation flowing, and hoping it might help Brendan to be able to move them. Wanting to get away from the strange feelings, he stumbled over his words, "Water. You probably need some water."

John gave him an even better excuse to get away from his feelings as he moved his head to the side to talk with Major Sheppard as he radioed in. While he could still hear the rasping breathing of the old man, at least he could now not see the pain and despair in Brendan's eyes. _Damn it, the man here is dieing, and the man out there is getting shot at and I can do nothing._ Rodney started to berate himself for letting people past his walls. Those walls were built to protect him from pain and loneliness, and here he was hurting because he started to lower them. He quickly looked over to Dr. Gaul and thought about rebuilding his walls up. However he knew that he was probably the last person that Brendan was going to see and the feelings that had already come through the downed wall would not let Rodney go back to being an ass to a dieing man. All Rodney's thoughts went on hold the minute he heard John tell him to give Brendan a gun.

Sheppard was glad to hear the Dr. Gaul was able to move his hand slightly, and fearing that he might not survive the fight with the Wraith he commanded Rodney to put a gun in Brendan's hand. "Just in case I don't make it back. Sheppard out."

"That's comforting, huh? Right …water." Rodney continued giving water to Dr. Gaul as he tried to break the additional tension that now hung over their heads. He thought that John should come back here. Major Sheppard could ensure their safety for the next 12 hours or so until help should arrive. That was assuming at least that Dr. Weir sent out a rescue team within an hour of their not radioing in. He did not care about the jumper, he cared about his coworkers' lives _and your own_ his selfish angel on his shoulder interjected.

While he did want to stay safe, he also wanted to get out and help his teammate, especially after he learned that John almost blew himself up and would not come back here to hold up until help arrived. As long as the Wraith was out there, then he knew that Dr. Gaul was safe here at least from anything not age and health related. But if John died nothing would go as planned; they would not be able to keep the jumper out of the Wraith's hands from here and they were at an even greater chance to not make it if the Wraith came back to his old ship. Therefore if John did not come back here, Rodney thought it was the smartest thing to go help his teammate for all involved. However he knew that he could not leave Dr. Gaul here alone to probably die by himself.

Dr. Gaul noticed that Rodney really wanted to get out and help with the fighting. He was amazed at the changes he saw with this brash scientist, "You wanna get out there and help him, don't you?" Both amazement and pain could be heard in his voice.

Rodney tried to write off the question, "What? Me go up against a Wraith? Are you kidding?" He was being truthful to a point. He really did not want to go fight a Wraith, but he would to help out which was a new feeling for this self-absorbed scientist.

"You do. I can tell. You've changed. You really wanna get out there." Dr. Gaul taunted and after Rodney blew up with a resounding "Shut Up!" Brendan knew he was on the right path. "Don't get me wrong. I'm impressed. You want in the fight. The Rodney McKay I knew would never ..."

Dr. McKay interrupted the tirade not wanting to know what Brendan thought about him before now. He knew it could not be anything good. He knew what most people thought of him and said behind his back, and while he pretended that he did not care his walls took a beating every time. Without his walls up now, Rodney did not think he currently could deal with the truth on top of this crappy situation. "You heard the man. We're staying right here. All right." He then did as John wanted and handed Brendan the gun while stating "Take this, but don't shoot at anything until I tell you to, OK?" Rodney hated this. One man dieing, one man in danger and he could do nothing for either of them.

"Okay," Dr. Gaul replied; however he thought about what he could do with the gun in his hand. He knew that he was dieing, and after an additional conversation with Rodney he could see that Rodney was only staying here from a sense of responsibility and guilt. He felt the pain in his joints and the tightness in his chest as he breathed. He could not let two people that could possibly live, die because he lingered too long. Life as he knew it was over, and so it did not take much thought to do what he knew he had to do. The hardest part of his task was getting his hand and the additional weight to move into the correct position. He struggled to pull the trigger and after a brief sharp pain he was released from the shell that he had become.

Rodney heard the gunshot and knew what had happened. He knew that he shouldn't have given Brendan the gun. He closed his eyes and fought the pain. He turned and walked over to the dead scientist. Rodney reached down and gently closed the eyes that gazed out at the room lifelessly. Rodney then quickly gathered up the weapons and as he rushed out of the chamber he worked on rebuilding the scarred walls that he had earlier opened slightly.

* * *

Aiden radioed in to Atlantis to see if Major Sheppard contacted the city and thereby making his trip obsolete. He was dismayed to learn that there had been no radio contact. He did not know why Major Sheppard would not radio in, but he knew that he and his team would do whatever it took to make sure that they got the men back. "We're prepared to do whatever we need to do."

Dr. Weir noticed Dr. Heightmeyer walking towards her office and then calmly stood in the doorway as she waited for the leader of Atlantis to finish up her conversation with Lieutenant Ford. Dr. Weir signaled to the psychologist that she would be with her in a moment as she spoke to Aiden, "You're on the other side of the solar system, Lieutenant. It's gonna be your call."

"Yes, ma'am, it is," Aiden responded and with that the conversation was ended.

"Yes doctor, what can I do for you?" Dr. Weir asked the person in her doorway as she turned her attention back towards her desk and the never ending paperwork that sat there.

Dr. Heightmeyer noticed the attempt of Dr. Weir to tune her out for the most part by pretending to be busy. "You missed our appointment."

"I'm busy and there is currently an emergency at hand," Dr. Weir stated.

"This is Atlantis. When is it ever not busy," Dr, Heightmeyer stated. She noticed Dr. Weir open her mouth to say something else and quickly interjected, "And there is usually one emergency or another. We knew this place would possibly be dangerous when we signed on. That's why I'm here. Let me do my job."

Dr. Weir knew that Dr. Heightmeyer was right. She knew that she had to participate in this mandatory counseling after the incursion of the city. _Be the leader_, she thought knowing that no one would follow orders if she herself didn't.

Dr. Heightmeyer could see that Dr. Weir was starting to come around to the idea of leaving her office and the radio contact in order to go to the appointment, but she decided to add an extra incentive, "and let your people do their jobs. They know what to do in these situations, and they can always contact you if they need to."

Elizabeth knew that what she heard was true. She stood up and walked out of her office and toward the closest door. As she passed Peter Grodin she requested that he contact her only if needed for the next hour or when they learned that Major Sheppard and his team were safe. While she knew she was doing what she needed to do, she took a deep breath as she walked out of the control room. She was not walking towards her death, but she knew the next hour would be hell on earth.

* * *

AN: Thanks to all who reviewed this story, especially the later ones which helped me get back into this story.

Sorry for the slight filler chapter. I am still here and the next chapter or two are outlined—but of course the outline is at home and I wont be for the next week. Btw Aiden should learn about Elizabeth in about two chapters or so. Dr. Heightmeyer and Dr. Beckett soon after, but then many more chapters before John and Rodney do :)


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